Vehicles travelling in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s convoy collided with an ambulance on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning, leaving several people reportedly injured. Gandhi was safe and his vehicle was not involved in the collision, according to police and Congress representatives.
The accident occurred around 10.15 a.m. near Haliyapur in Sultanpur district, as Gandhi was travelling from Lucknow to attend proceedings at a special MP-MLA court. The court was scheduled to deliver its verdict in a criminal defamation case filed against him over remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Five vehicles at the rear of the convoy were involved in the collision, according to reports citing police. Those reportedly injured included Congress workers, party office-bearers and security personnel accompanying the convoy.
The precise number of injured people and the severity of their injuries were not immediately established in the available reports.
Sudden braking triggers collision
A police officer told the Press Trust of India that the incident occurred when a private vehicle belonging to local Congress leaders, travelling towards the front of the group, suddenly applied its brakes for an unspecified reason. Vehicles following it then collided with one another.
The vehicles involved had joined the convoy midway, carrying passengers that included Congress workers from neighbouring Amethi district, the officer said.
Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi confirmed that Gandhi was safe and that his vehicle had not been involved in the accident.
“Rahul ji is completely safe. It was a minor brush as his motorcade moved along the expressway,” Awasthi told PTI.
The collision took place near the 89.5-km to 91-km stretch of the expressway, according to different media reports. Some reports identified an ambulance among the vehicles involved, while others initially described the incident as a collision among vehicles travelling in the convoy.
Visuals from the scene showed vehicles closely grouped across the expressway lanes and a damaged SUV stopped near the ambulance. The exact sequence of the collision and the circumstances involving the ambulance were not independently established in the initial reports.
There were also differences in early accounts of the injuries. While some reports said several people were injured, a police officer cited by PTI said no major injuries had been reported. A precise official injury count was not immediately available.
The convoy resumed its journey towards Sultanpur after the incident and reached the court at around 11.15 a.m., according to the police officer cited by PTI.
Rahul Gandhi acquitted in Amit Shah defamation case
Gandhi was travelling to Sultanpur for the final proceedings in a defamation case dating back to 2018. A special MP-MLA court subsequently acquitted him, ruling that his remarks were not defamatory.
The complaint was filed by Vijay Mishra, a local BJP leader and former chairman of the Sultanpur District Cooperative Bank. It concerned remarks Gandhi allegedly made during a campaign rally in Bengaluru ahead of the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, when Shah was the BJP president.
Gandhi had criticised the BJP’s claims of promoting clean politics, referring to a party president who was an accused in a murder case. Mishra alleged that the remarks were derogatory and defamatory.
Gandhi appeared before the court on Monday for the verdict. Following his acquittal, Congress leaders and supporters celebrated outside the court.
The expressway collision and the court proceedings unfolded during the same journey from Lucknow to Sultanpur. Gandhi escaped injury in the road incident and subsequently attended the court proceedings, where the verdict went in his favour.
Further details about the injuries, damage to the vehicles and any subsequent police action were awaited.