New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the MP/MLA court in a defamation case on Tuesday and was subsequently granted bail. However, a controversy broke out over his alleged photo-op session as lawyers made a beeline to take a picture with the Congress MP apparently inside the court premises.

The BJP took strong exception to the incident and spokesperson Ajay Alok lashed out at the Congress MP and said that this shows his utter disregard for the judiciary.

“This man has no shame. He is a habitual offender and will continue to do so. After getting bail, he was posing for photo ops, that’s how little shame he has left,” the BJP spokesperson said in a terse reply, responding to viral pictures of LoP Gandhi’s photo with lawyers on social media.

He also sought to counter the narrative of LoP Gandhi getting relief in the defamation case, saying, “He was first arrested and then given conditional bail. He is the same person who said that Chinese soldiers were beating up Indian soldiers. The case was filed against him for insulting the Indian Army.”

The controversy over LoP Gandhi’s photo-op erupted after many social handles shared pictures of lawyers making a beeline to click a selfie with the Gandhi scion.

One picture that took centerstage and has also been shared by many handles, showed a man in black robes, clicking a selfie with the Congress leader, from the podium.

Many social media handles shared the viral photo claiming that the judge presiding over the case clicked a selfie with Rahul Gandhi, however, this was found to be untrue.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya also took to social media to share the viral pictures and called it a brazen attempt by the Congress party to present him as a ‘mass leader’.

He also lambasted the grand old party, stating that this episode shows the party’s desperation to manufacture LoP Gandhi’s credibility, despite it being on a constant decline.

“Official party handles and office bearers shamelessly spread fake news claiming a Lucknow judge took a selfie with Rahul Gandhi — a complete falsehood,” he pointed out.

“If Rahul Gandhi had even a shred of integrity left, he would quit public life in protest over this disgraceful episode,” he further said.

The Congress leader had appeared in court over alleged defamatory claims by him during the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and was given bail on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 and two sureties of the like amount. August 13 has been fixed as the next date of hearing.

The complainant had contended that Rahul Gandhi, during his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in 2022 had made derogatory statements about the Indian Army.

According to the complainant, Rahul Gandhi had said that Indian soldiers were ‘thrashed’ by the Chinese in Arunachal Pradesh and the Indian media was not asking pertinent questions on it.

–IANS

mr/rad