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NEW DELHI: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday drew a parallel between Rahul Gandhi and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal after the Congress MP expressed “regret” before the Madhya Pradesh high court over his remarks on Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son, Kartikey Singh Chouhan.In a post on X, Rijiju questioned the frequency with which the two opposition leaders have expressed regret or apologised after facing legal action over their remarks.“Who has tendered more apologies after levelling false allegations–Rahul Gandhi ji or Arvind Kejriwal ji?” Rijiju posted.Kartikeya Singh Chouhan filed a defamation case before an MP-MLA court in Bhopal, alleging that Rahul Gandhi tarnished his reputation by mentioning his name in relation to the Panama Papers scandal during a 2018 election rally in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh.The speech was delivered ahead of the 2018 Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, when Shivraj Singh Chouhan was serving as the state’s chief minister.The MP-MLA court subsequently summoned Rahul Gandhi to appear in person, prompting the Congress leader to challenge the order before the Madhya Pradesh high court. After hearing the matter, the high court reserved its order.Counsel for Kartikey Chouhan, advocate Sankalp Kochar, told ANI, “The MP-MLA court in Bhopal issued summons to Rahul Gandhi in the defamation case filed by Kartikey Chouhan. Prima facie, the court found that the matter was fit for cognisance and that an offence was made out.”“When the hearing was held yesterday, Rahul Gandhi submitted a written statement expressing his regret. He stated that the remarks he made in 2018 were made under a misunderstanding and were based on incorrect facts. He reiterated that regret. Based on this, the court asked us to submit our written reply. In that written reply, we stated that since he himself is expressing regret and admitting his mistake of making that statement incorrectly and by mistake, we accepted his regret and expressed our intention to close the case. The court has now preserved the order in regard to the case,” Kochar added.Rijiju’s remarks come against the backdrop of previous instances in which both Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal have apologised or expressed regret in legal proceedings. In 2019, Gandhi tendered an unconditional apology before the Supreme Court over his remarks on its judgment in the Rafale fighter jet deal case. Kejriwal, meanwhile, apologised to BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari in separate defamation cases over corruption allegations.
