Sultanpur: Several people, including Congress workers and security personnel, were injured after five vehicles in Rahul Gandhi’s convoy collided with an ambulance on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
The accident took place near the 91-kilometre milestone under the Haliyapur police station limits. Rahul Gandhi was travelling from Lucknow airport to Sultanpur when the collision occurred.
The Congress leader was reported to be safe and continued towards the court. The number of people injured and details about their condition were not immediately available.
Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was visiting Sultanpur in connection with a 2018 criminal defamation case over remarks he allegedly made about Amit Shah, who was then the BJP president. A special MP-MLA court was scheduled to pronounce its verdict in the case on October 26.
Why Rahul Gandhi Was Travelling to Sultanpur
The court case dates back to an election campaign in Bengaluru in 2018, during which Gandhi allegedly made objectionable remarks against Shah. BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank, filed a defamation complaint against him on August 4 that year.
The court summoned Gandhi to face trial on November 27, 2023. He later appeared before the court and was granted bail.
The proceedings have continued through several stages, including legal challenges over a request to compare Gandhi’s voice sample.
How the Voice Sample Dispute Reached the High Court
During the trial, Mishra sought a comparison of Gandhi’s voice sample. The trial court rejected his application, following which Mishra challenged the decision before the sessions court.
The sessions court dismissed his revision petition. The Allahabad High Court also rejected his petition challenging the decisions of the lower courts.
The special MP-MLA court subsequently scheduled its verdict for October 26. The date had initially been fixed for October 13 before being changed.
Gandhi’s visit to Sultanpur was linked to the scheduled court proceedings. The circumstances leading to Monday’s convoy collision were not immediately clear.