A court in India’s western state of Gujarat has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s petition seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case, increasing uncertainty over whether he will be able to contest an election due next year.
Gandhi was convicted last month in a case brought by a state legislator from India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after comments the Congress party leader made in a speech were deemed to be insulting to the prime minister and other people surnamed Modi.
The district court in Surat city had sentenced Gandhi to two years in prison for his 2019 remarks referring to two fugitive Indian businessmen, both surnamed Modi.
In an election rally that year, the 52-year-old leader had asked: “How come all thieves have the name Modi?”
While Thursday’s ruling was a setback for Gandhi, his jail sentence remained suspended until he exhausts all his legal challenges to the conviction.
Gandhi lost his parliament seat in March after being convicted and sentenced to two years in jail for the Modi comments.
