Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Thursday welcomed the conviction of Rahul Gandhi for his remarks over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname and said he should also be booked for “insulting” national icons like V D Savarkar and “defaming” the country abroad.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre said Gandhi is used to making personal comments.

“He should also be booked for insulting national icons like Veer Savarkar and defaming the country abroad (a reference to Gandhi’s recent comments at Cambridge University which has stoked controversy),” Mhatre said.

A court in Surat in Gujarat on Thursday sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his Modi surname remarks.

The court also granted Gandhi bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court, the Congress leader’s lawyer said.

The case was filed against Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?” remarks on a complaint lodged by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi.

The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad made the remarks while addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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