Several people were injured after vehicles in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s convoy collided on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. Rahul was safe.
The accident occurred near the 91-km milestone, where five vehicles and an ambulance collided. Those injured reportedly included Congress workers, party office-bearers and security personnel accompanying the convoy.
The incident occurred at around 10.15 am when a private vehicle at the front of the convoy, belonging to local Congress leaders, suddenly applied the brakes for an unspecified reason, causing the vehicles behind it to collide with one another, the officer told PTI.
The convoy, accompanied by police personnel for security, was expected to reach the Sultanpur court at around 11.15 am for the hearing in the defamation case against Gandhi, the officer said.
Rahul arrived at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow on Monday morning. Hundreds of Congress workers and local party leaders gathered at the airport to welcome him.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha did not speak to reporters before leaving for Sultanpur.
The defamation case stems from alleged objectionable remarks Rahul Gandhi made about Amit Shah, who was the BJP’s national president at the time, during a press conference in Bengaluru in May 2018.
Advocate Kashi Prasad Shukla, one of the lawyers in the case, told ANI on Monday that Gandhi had referred to Shah as an accused in a murder case.
Vijay Mishra, then chairman of the District Co-operative Bank in Sultanpur and a BJP district vice-president, subsequently filed a complaint against Rahul.
The court had initially scheduled the verdict for October 13 but later fixed October 26 for its pronouncement.
