Rahul Gandhi sent to jail for ‘thief’ talk

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been sentenced to two years in prison in a criminal defamation case. Gandhi was convicted by the court in Gujarat state for 2019 comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname during an election rally.

He will not go to jail immediately - he was granted bail for 30 days and will file an appeal against the conviction. The Congress Party MP was present in court for sentencing, which comes a year before general elections are due.

Speaking at an election rally in Karnataka state in April 2019, ahead of the last general election, Gandhi had said: “Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi.”