Rahul Gandhi appears in Sultanpur court in defamation case, next hearing on August 12

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi outside Sultanpur Court. Pic/ PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Sultanpur MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh on Friday for a hearing in a 2018 defamation case, reported PTI.

The court scheduled the next hearing in the matter for August 12. The statement of the petitioner will be recorded in the next hearing.

As per the PTI report, court sources said Gandhi need not appear in the court again on that date.

Congress district president Abhishek Singh Rana confirmed that Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, appeared in the court, reported PTI.

A defamation was filed by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018, against Gandhi for making alleged objectionable remarks against the then BJP president and current Home Minister Amit Shah.

The court granted bail to Gandhi in this case on February 20.

Will put pressure on INDIA bloc to implement MSP: Rahul Gandhi after meeting farmers

A 12-member delegation of farmer leaders across various states met Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday to apprise the Leader of the Opposition about their issues. The meeting was held at Gandhi's office in Parliament House Complex.

After the meeting, the Raebareli Member of Parliament (MP) emphasised his party's commitment to providing a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the Congress manifesto. "In our manifesto, we have mentioned MSP with a legal guarantee. We have done the assessment and it can be implemented," Rahul Gandhi said while speaking to reporters after his meeting.

The Congress will rally support from other leaders within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to press the government over this crucial measure so that farmers across the country benefit, added Gandhi.

"We had a meeting where we decided to talk to the other leaders of INDIA to put pressure on the government to give MSP legal guarantee to the farmers," Gandhi said.

Other leaders such as KC Venugopal, Raja Brar, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dharamvir Gandhi, Dr Amar Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda, and Jai Prakash were also present in the meeting.

Earlier, the Congress MP alleged that farmer leaders who were invited by him were not allowed inside the Parliament Complex because they are farmers. Later, the farmer leaders were allowed to come to Parliament only after Gandhi decided to go outside to meet them.

"We had invited them [farmer leaders] here [in Parliament] to meet us. But because they are farmers, maybe they are not being allowed in," he alleged.