Rahul Gandhi safe after convoy collision on way to Sultanpur court

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Raebareli MP, was safe after vehicles in his convoy collided on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning.

The collision happened in the Haliapur police station area of Sultanpur district, near the 91 km milestone, while Gandhi was travelling from Lucknow to Sultanpur. The Hindu, citing PTI, reported that at least four vehicles and an ambulance in the convoy collided, and that Gandhi’s vehicle was ahead of the crash site.

The Sultanpur superintendent of police said four private vehicles belonging to Congress leaders, which were following the convoy from Lucknow, collided after one driver braked abruptly, according to The Indian Express. PTI reported that no one was seriously injured, and the vehicles resumed their journey after a brief halt. Early reports had said several Congress workers and security personnel were reportedly injured; the superintendent of police said no one was injured.

Gandhi had landed at Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in the morning, where Congress workers and local party leaders gathered to welcome him. He was travelling to appear before a special MP-MLA court in Sultanpur, which was due to pronounce its verdict on Monday in a 2018 criminal defamation case.

The case concerns alleged objectionable remarks Gandhi made about Amit Shah — then the BJP president and now the Union home minister — during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election campaign in Bengaluru. BJP leader Vijay Mishra, a former chairman of the Sultanpur district cooperative bank, filed the complaint on 4 August 2018.

The court had earlier fixed 13 October for the verdict, which was subsequently scheduled for 26 October. Gandhi appeared before the court in 2023 and secured bail, and his statement was recorded on 26 July 2024. Gandhi has said the case was filed to gain “cheap publicity” and that he never gave a statement that could lead to a defamation case.

Sources

• The Hindu: “Rahul Gandhi’s convoy involved in collision on Purvanchal Expressway; Congress leader safe” — https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rahul-gandhi-amit-shah-defamation-case-sultanpur-accident-up-verdict-october-26-2026/article71625707.ece
• The Indian Express: “Vehicles in Rahul Gandhi’s convoy collide in UP’s Sultanpur, leader safe” — https://indianexpress.com/article/india/rahul-gandhi-convoy-accident-uttar-pradesh-sultanpur-lucknow-purvanchal-expressway-10936941/
• The Tribune: “Rahul Gandhi’s convoy involved in collision on Purvanchal Expressway; Congress leader safe” — https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/uttar-pradesh/rahul-gandhis-convoy-involved-in-minor-collision-on-purvanchal-expressway-congress-leader-safe/