Court summons Rahul over Economic Survey remarks

A court at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh has summoned Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to appear before it on January 7 for his remarks related to the Economic Survey during the Lok Sabha poll.

District and Sessions Judge Sudhir Kumar on Saturday issued notice to Gandhi. The summons are related to a plea filed by Pankaj Pathak, mandal president of the All-India Hindu Mahasangh outfit.

Pathak had initially approached the MLA-MP Court/CJM Court in August, requesting the registration of a case against Gandhi.

However, the court had rejected the application on August 27. Pathak then filed a revision petition in the sessions court, which led to the current summons.

Advocate Virendra Pal Gupta, representing Pathak, submitted that during the Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi had allegedly said that “despite the percentage of weaker sections being high, the percentage of property they own is quite low. If this remains the case, then those with a higher population can demand more property”.

Gupta alleged that Gandhi tried to provoke the weaker sections with these statements, which were aimed at “creating class hatred for political gain”.

He further alleged that Gandhi deliberately attempted to sow seeds of hostility and animosity among economically weaker sections in an effort to further the Congress’ interests.

‘Bid to provoke weaker sections’

Rahul Gandhi had allegedly said “despite the high percentage of weaker sections, the percentage of property they own is quite low. If this remains the case, those with a higher population can demand more property”.

It was alleged that Gandhi attempted to sow seeds of hostility and animosity among economically weaker sections in to further the party’s interests.