In Sultanpur, a special court has granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case dating back to 2018. The case, initiated by Vijay Mishra on August 4, 2018, was prompted by remarks Gandhi purportedly made against Home Minister Amit Shah during a press conference in Bengaluru on May 8 of the same year, amid the Karnataka elections. Gandhi’s statement implied that the BJP, despite advocating for honest politics, was led by a party president accused in a murder case, referring to Amit Shah. Advocate Santosh Pandey stated, “He (Rahul Gandhi) surrendered in the court today. He surrendered and the court took him into custody for 30-45 minutes. After that, his bail application was submitted and was accepted (by the court).” The court is yet to schedule the next hearing. Gandhi’s lawyer maintains his innocence, arguing that he did not make any defamatory statement. However, four years prior to Gandhi’s remark, a special CBI court in Mumbai had cleared Shah of charges in a 2005 fake encounter case during his tenure as minister of state for home in Gujarat. Rahul Gandhi missed the previous hearing on January 18 due to his commitments to the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Complainant Vijay Mishra criticized Gandhi’s remarks, stating, “The BJP is the biggest party of the country. Calling its (then) president a murderer is unjustifiable.