Daijiworld Media Network – Lucknow

Lucknow, Oct 26: Several people were injured after vehicles in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s convoy collided on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. Rahul Gandhi was safe in the incident.

The accident occurred near the 91-km milestone at around 10.15 am, when five vehicles and an ambulance collided. The injured reportedly included Congress workers, party office-bearers and security personnel accompanying the convoy.

According to an officer quoted by PTI, a private vehicle belonging to local Congress leaders and travelling at the front of the convoy suddenly applied the brakes for an unspecified reason. This reportedly caused the vehicles following it to collide with one another.

The convoy, accompanied by police personnel for security, was on its way to Sultanpur, where Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to appear in court in connection with a defamation case. The convoy was expected to reach the court at around 11.15 am.

Rahul Gandhi arrived at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow on Monday morning. Hundreds of Congress workers and local party leaders had 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 relates to alleged objectionable remarks Rahul Gandhi made about Amit Shah, who was the BJP 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 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 Gandhi.

The court had initially scheduled the verdict for October 13 but later fixed October 26 for its pronouncement.