Bengaluru: Congress's Rahul Gandhi, disqualified from parliament following his conviction in a defamation case, has had another defamation case filed against him in Karnataka. His co-accused are Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar, who have been summoned by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. The case will be heard on July 27.
The complaint, filed by state BJP state secretary Keshavaprasad on May 9, centres the "40 per cent corruption" allegations in the run-up to the recently concluded assembly elections.
The complaint says a Congress advertisement printed on newspapers on May 5, 2023, claimed then BJP government indulged in 40 per cent corruption and had looted Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the previous four years.
Terming the allegations "baseless" and "defamatory," the BJP alleged that it was because of such campaigns it lost the last month's state election in Karnataka.
The Congress claimed the BJP was acting out of "frustration".
"They (the BJP) lost the elections. The people have rejected them. They are now frustrated and they want to file a case because they have nothing to do," said senior Congress leader Saleem Ahmed.
"The Prime Minister did not order an inquiry. Mr Bommai did not act on it. So we had to do it for the people," he added.
The "40 per cent corruption" became the key election plank of the Congress after allegations that officials in various ministries were seeking 40 per cent bribes.
The Congress even came up with the "PayCM" campaign, which helped the "40 per cent" bribery accusations gain traction.
The BJP was seen as inactive against its leaders and ministers accused of corruption. Despite the corruption allegations, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was retained as the party's Chief Ministerial candidate.
But the result showed a clean sweep by the Congress -- the first good news the party had since Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from parliament.
Mr Gandhi was automatically disqualified from the Lok Sabha in March after he was convicted by a court in Gujarat over his remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Targetting PM Modi over his last name -- which he shares with fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi -- Rahul Gandhi had said, "How come all thieves have the common surname Modi?"
Shortly after, a police case was filed against him by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, who contended that it was a comment targetting the Other Backward Classes.
Mr Gandhi has contested the verdict at a higher court. Unless the verdict is overturned, he will be unable to get reinstated in parliament and contest elections for the next eight years.