Soon after a Surat court granted bail to Rahul Gandhi in a 2019 defamation case, the Congress leader on Monday said this is a fight against "Mitrkaal" to save democracy and truth is his weapon in this struggle.

Gandhi was convicted by a lower court here and sentenced to prison for two years last month for a speech in which he linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last name with two fugitive businessmen, remarking how the "thieves" shared the same last name.

Minutes after the hearing on Monday, Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, "This is a fight against 'Mitrkaal' to save democracy. In this struggle, truth is my weapon, and truth is my support!" Gandhi has been taking the 'Mitrkaal' jibe at the central government, accusing it of working to benefit its "crony capitalist friends".

A sessions court on Monday granted bail to Gandhi in the defamation case and will hear the matter on April 13, an official said.

The 52-year-old Congress leader reached Surat this afternoon via a scheduled commercial flight along with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and proceeded to the sessions court to file an appeal against the ruling of the lower court.

The lower court had granted him bail for 30 days to appeal the verdict. A day later, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.

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