Lucknow: Rahul Gandhi on Friday stopped at a roadside cobbler’s and tried his hand at repairing a leather chappal in Sultanpur, where he had been summoned by an MP-MLA court in a defamation case.

The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha arrived in the morning and told the court that the defamation suit was a politically motivated one, filed on the basis of incorrect information to gain “cheap publicity”.

Vijay Mishra, Sultanpur district BJP vice-president, had filed the case on August 4, 2018, alleging Rahul had made an objectionable remark against Amit Shah at a news conference in Bengaluru on July 15 the same year.

The court granted bail to Rahul on February 20 this year, after the Congress leader halted his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to appear before it.

On his way back to Lucknow on Friday, Rahul stopped at several places in Sultanpur and neighbouring Rae Bareli, the constituency he represents in Parliament.

One of the halts was before the pavement at Vidhayak Nagar Crossing in the Guptar area of Sultanpur where cobbler Ram Chet, 40, was plying his trade.

“He (Rahul) arrived and sat with me. He talked to me about my family and my work. He asked about my daily income. He also tried his hand at stitching a leather chappal,” Ram Chet told reporters after Rahul had left.

“It’s good that he wants to understand how people live by spending time with them. Everyone should appreciate his gesture.”

In Rae Bareli, Rahul met a group of students who had taken this year’s controversy-ridden NEET-UG, the undergraduate medical entrance test. They requested him to make sure that question papers are never leaked again.

“We also told him to demand from the government that the last NEET be cancelled and the exam conducted afresh to instil confidence in the students,” Rajan Singh, one of the students, told reporters.

“He said he was raising this issue (exam irregularities) every day and would continue to do so in Parliament.”

The Supreme Court has refused to annul this year’s NEET-UG saying only 150-odd candidates had benefited from the question paper leak and that scrapping the entire exam would affect the remaining successful students.

A local Congress leader said several party members in Rae Bareli had met Rahul and handed him a report on a development plan for the constituency that he had asked them to draw up.

Earlier, Rahul told special judge Shubham Verma that he had never made a statement against anyone that could lead to a defamation case, PTI quoted his lawyer Kashi Prasad Shukla as saying.

The court posted the next hearing to August 12 when the petitioner’s statement would be recorded, the PTI report added.

Rahul won the general election from Rae Bareli, previously represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi, and Wayanad in Kerala and decided to retain the Uttar Pradesh seat.

Sonia’s office assistant, Kishori Lal Sharma, defeated former Union minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani from neighbouring Amethi.