Cong chief Kharge holds meeting with opposition leaders day after Rahul's conviction

The court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had on Thursday asserted that it is not just a legal issue but also a serious political matter linked with the future of democracy in the country, he said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday held a meeting with opposition leaders and discussed the future strategy, a day after party leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 defamation case.

Besides the Congress, senior leaders of parties such as the DMK, National Conference, RSP, VCK, JDU, CPI(M), SP, SS, IUML, AAP and CPI attended the meeting of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha in his office inside Parliament complex.

Sources said that it was decided that Opposition leaders would stage a protest in the afternoon.

The opposition parties have also sought time from President Droupadi Murmu on Friday afternoon to raise the matter with her. A court in Surat on Thursday sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in the case filed against him over his ''Modi surname'' remarks. The court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had on Thursday asserted that it is not just a legal issue but also a serious political matter linked with the future of democracy in the country, he said. ''This is another major example of the Modi government's politics of vendetta, threat and intimidation. We will fight it legally as well as politically. We will not bow down or be intimidated by such politics and will turn this into a major political issue,'' he had said.