Congress President Rahul Gandhi may have decided to step down from the post following his party's devastating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, but he is keen to establish himself as the prime opponent of the BJP-RSS. His decision to appear personally in the defamation cases filed against him is intended to do exactly that.
Rahul made a court appearance in Maharashtra on Thursday in a defamation case filed by an RSS activist for allegedly linking the ideology of the BJP-RSS to the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh. That was followed by his appearance on Saturday at a Patna court in a defamation suit filed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi in reaction to the Congress leader's alleged remarks during the Lok Sabha campaign that all thieves had the surname Modi.
There are two other defamation cases—in Surat and Ahmedabad—in which Rahul is slated to appear on July 9 and 12, respectively. According to Congress sources, Rahul has insisted on personally appearing in these cases, and it appears that the idea is to depict him as a fearless opponent of the ideology of the BJP-RSS, while conveying the idea that the saffron elements believe in clamping down on any voice that opposes them.
Asked what message he wanted to send out by appearing in the court in Patna on Saturday, Rahul told the reporters, “Whoever stands against RSS and Narendra Modi ji's ideology is attacked and court cases are slapped. My fight is to save the Constitution of India, to stand for the poor, the farmers and the workers. That is the reason why I have come here.”
Prior to the court appearance, he had tweeted to say that he would appear in person at the civil court in Patna “in yet another case filed against me by my political opponents in the RSS/BJP to harass & intimidate me (sic)”.
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After his court appearance in Maharashtra on July 4, he had described it as a battle against the forces of injustice, hatred and violence. He said he would fight 10 times harder than he had in the last five years. “It is a battle of ideology. I stand with the poor, the farmers. The attacks are on. I am enjoying the fight,” he said.
The court appearances in the defamation cases come at a time when Rahul has given a finality to his decision to step down as Congress president and there is speculation on what his political role would be hereafter. And the Congress leader has clearly indicated through the stance that he has taken vis-a-vis the defamation cases that he would want to be seen as the main opponent of the BJP-RSS.
This is in line with the thoughts he expressed in his open letter to his supporters in which he confirmed his decision to resign as Congress president. In the letter, he wrote, “I personally fought the Prime Minister, the RSS and the institutions they have captured with all my being. I fought because I love India. And I fought to defend the ideals India was built upon. At times, I stood completely alone and am extremely proud of it.”
“The attack on our country and our cherished Constitution that is taking place is designed to destroy the fabric of our nation. In no way, shape or form am I stepping back from this fight. I am a loyal soldier of the Congress party and a devoted son of India and will continue to serve and protect her till my last breath,” he said.
