Bengaluru, June 7 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before a special Bengaluru court on Friday in connection with a defamation case filed by Karnataka BJP MLC Keshav Prasad.

As per Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Rahul Gandhi will appear before the Special MP/MLA court at 10.30 a.m. and both he and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will also be present on the occasion. He appealed to party workers not to bring party flags, or raise slogans against the BJP in the court premises.

The defamation suit filed by Prasad alleges that Congress engaged in propaganda by publishing full-page advertisements accusing the previous BJP government in the state of charging a 40 per cent commission for providing government projects. He argued that during the Assembly elections, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had made false allegations to misguide the people of the state and should face action under Section 500 of the IPC.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar appeared before the court on June 1 and obtained bail. Rahul Gandhi, who is also a party to the case, remained absent despite giving an undertaking and counsel for the BJP leader sought that a non-bailable arrest warrant be issued against him.

Later, Rahul Gandhi will also hold a discussion with the newly-elected Congress MPs from the state as well as defeated candidates here at the Bharat Jodo Bhavan.

/IANS