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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by a Patna MP-MLA court to record his statement on April 12 in a defamation suit filed against him by senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

The case pertains to Rahul Gandhi's "all thieves are Modi" remark, which he had made during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign in Karnataka.

On March 23, Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his Modi surname remark. A complaint was filed by BJP MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi, following which a case against Rahul Gandhi was lodged.

Several vehicles were set on fire, stones were thrown and shops were ransacked as clashes between two groups broke out in West Bengal's Howrah amid Ram Navami celebrations today. Visuals showed several vehicles engulfed in flames and a heavy police deployment - including riot control force - in the area.

The violence broke out when a Ram Navami procession was crossing the Kazipara locality. A number of cars, including a few police vehicles, were damaged during the violence and the security personnel had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a two-day sit-in protest in Kolkata against Centre's policies, called "rioters the enemy of the country" and said those behind today's violence "will not be spared".

Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said Opposition unity in the face of action against Rahul Gandhi provides a fertile ground to "build an edifice on", and noted that his disqualification from Lok Sabha was a price worth paying if that means the beginning of a more sustained cooperation among anti-BJP parties.

Khurshid also said he was confident that Rahul Gandhi will be back in Parliament "very quickly" through the legal process.

In an interview with PTI, the former law minister said changes to the law on disqualification of legislators was "inevitable" as steps undertaken to clean up the political system have some unintended dimensions and Rahul Gandhi's case seems to be one such instance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Congress saying that the parliamentary elections after the 1984 riots saw a huge majority for the grand old party.

It was an emotionally charged atmosphere and in that storm, we were almost wiped out. However, we never lost hope. We worked on the ground and strengthened our organisation, PM Modi said.

PM Modi made the comments after inaugurating the newly constructed BJP Central Office (Ext.) in presence of BJP national president JP Nadda in the national capital.

Wearing black clothes, several Opposition MPs on March 27 took out a march from parliament to Vijay Chowk to protest against the government over the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha.

The protesters, including Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, gathered near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament complex and raised slogans against the government.

Holding a huge "Satyamev Jayate" banner and placards with "save democracy" written on them, the MPs proceeded towards Vijay Chowk where they staged a sit-in.