Several Congress workers and security personnel were reportedly injured after multiple vehicles in Rahul Gandhi’s convoy collided with an ambulance on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The accident occurred near the 91-kilometre milestone under the Haliyapur police station limits while the Congress leader was travelling from Lucknow airport to Sultanpur to appear before a special court in a criminal defamation case. Gandhi was reported to be safe and continued his journey towards the court.
Several people, including Congress party workers, office-bearers and security personnel, sustained injuries when five vehicles from Rahul Gandhi’s convoy and an ambulance collided on the Purvanchal Expressway. The incident took place on Monday morning as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha was travelling to Sultanpur for a scheduled court appearance. According to the information available, the collision occurred near the 91-kilometre milestone within the jurisdiction of the Haliyapur police station. The precise circumstances that led to the multiple-vehicle collision were not immediately clear. Gandhi was reported to be unharmed in the incident and continued towards Sultanpur to attend the court proceedings. The accident disrupted the Congress leader’s journey and left several members of his accompanying party and security team injured. The incident also brought attention to the challenges of managing convoy movements on busy expressways, particularly when multiple vehicles and emergency services are travelling together.
Gandhi’s visit to Sultanpur was connected to a criminal defamation case arising from alleged objectionable remarks he made about Amit Shah, who was the BJP’s national president at the time, during an election campaign in Bengaluru in 2018. The complaint was filed on August 4, 2018, by BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank. The case subsequently progressed through the judicial system, with the special MP-MLA court summoning Gandhi to face trial on November 27, 2023. The Congress leader appeared before the court and was granted bail. During the proceedings, Mishra sought a comparison of Gandhi’s voice sample, but the trial court rejected his application. The complainant challenged that decision before the sessions court, which dismissed the revision petition. The Allahabad High Court also rejected his challenge to the decisions of the lower courts. Additional Civil Judge Shubham Verma had initially scheduled the verdict for October 13 before fixing October 26 as the date for pronouncing the decision. Gandhi was required to appear in person before the special court. The case has remained in the judicial system for several years, making the scheduled verdict a significant development in the proceedings.
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