NEW DELHI — Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the main party opposing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was found guilty of defamation and sentenced to jail on Thursday, the latest blow to the beleaguered opposition party just a year before national elections.
Mr Gandhi was immediately granted 30 days bail. His party announced that it would appeal the conviction.
A court in Gujarat, Mr Modi’s home state, sentenced Mr Gandhi to two years in prison. He was convicted in connection with a Speech 2019 in which he linked the prime minister’s surname to that of two Indian refugees, Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, accused of defrauding millions of dollars.
“How come all thieves have Modi as a common name?” Mr Gandhi said while campaigning during the 2019 election.
Purnesh Modi, a local lawmaker from the ruling prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat, had filed the defamation lawsuit against Mr Gandhi, arguing that he found the comment offensive and hurtful.
Mr Gandhi tried revive the political destiny of his once powerful Indian National Congress Party, which has come under fire from Mr Modi’s party lately after Mr Gandhi questioned India’s democratic credentials during a recent visit to London. Mr Modi’s party called his remarks “anti-national”.
“The cowardly, dictatorial BJP government is restless because Rahul Gandhi and the opposition are exposing their black deeds,” Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, said in a reply to Twitterreferring to Mr Modi’s party.
Mr Gandhi’s party has said it will appeal his conviction in higher courts.
