Rahul Gandhi in Guwahati court over RSS case

The vice-president of India’s Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, has launched a furious attack on the Hindutva brigade after appearing in court in the northeastern state of Assam.

"My fight is against the ideology trying to divide the nation. I will continue to fight against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and all such other organizations," Gandhi said, after appearing in a local court over a defamation case on Thursday.

He alleged that cases had been slapped on him because of his struggle for the poor people of the country.

"I am fighting for the rights of the farmers, the unemployed youth who have aspirations, who have dreams and who are being denied those aspirations because our government is just looking after 12 or 15 people," he said.

The defamation suit was filed against Gandhi last year by an RSS volunteer, Anjan Kumar Bora. The court directed Gandhi to appear before it on September 29, after examining different witnesses in this case.

The court let Gandhi go on PR bond after recording his statement. The next hearing for the case is on Nov 5.

The RSS volunteer sued Gandhi for blaming the group's involvement in preventing him from entering a Hindu monastery called Satra in Barpeta last year.

Assam's Barpeta Satra was founded nearly 500 years ago by the Vaishnava saint Sri Madhava Dev. There are around 926 satras in Assam, established by the saint Srimanta Sankardeva and his disciple Sri Madhava Dev.

Rahul Gandhi is fighting another defamation case over linking the RSS to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He recently told the Supreme Court that he was ready to face trial in a Maharashtra court.