Karnataka rally: Rahul Gandhi rakes up Adani issue, targets Modi   

While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is yet to get relief in the 2019 defamation case over remarks against PM Narendra Modi's surname made in Kolar, Karnataka, he attacked the prime minister in the same city again on Sunday. Bringing up the Adani group-Hindenburg Research controversy and calling industrialist Gautam Adani a "symbol of corruption," Gandhi reiterated he would continue questioning Modi over the issue.

• Gandhi's statement on the Modi surname in Kolar, Karnataka, in 2019 led to the former Wayanad MP being convicted of criminal defamation and disqualified from the Lok Sabha.
• Meanwhile, the upcoming 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections will likely pit the BJP against the Congress, with the Janata Dal (Secular) emerging as the kingmaker.
• The polls assume significance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Addressing the Congress's Jai Bharat Satyagraha rally in Kolar, Gandhi said, "They (BJP) do not want me to talk in Parliament. They are afraid that I will raise questions on Adani." "They disqualified me from Parliament thinking that I will remain silent... I'm not scared. I will again ask the prime minister (about Adani)... Till I get answers, I will not stop," he added.

Separately, Gandhi expressed confidence that the Congress would win easily in the Karnataka elections scheduled for May 10. He stated that the party would approve its key poll promises in its government's first cabinet meeting, paving way for their implementation at the earliest. "I am very glad the Congress party is fighting Karnataka Assembly elections unitedly," he said further.

It was Gandhi's first visit to poll-bound Karnataka since the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the election schedule on March 29. Besides him, several senior Congress leaders spoke at the rally. The list included party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, Karnataka Congress head DK Shivakumar, and legislature party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Gandhi lost his MP status after a Surat court last month convicted him in the 2019 defamation case involving statements against the Modi surname. During a rally in Kolar before the 2019 general election, Gandhi asked, "How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?" On March 24, he was disqualified as an MP in compliance with a 2013 Supreme Court judgment.

On January 24, the US-based Hindenburg Research published a report on the Adani conglomerate and accused it of endangering investors' money. It made gross allegations of money laundering through foreign shell companies and looting public resources and projects with political backing. Trashing the report, however, Adani termed it an attack on India as various quarters called for an investigation into the matter.