Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 28: The High Grounds police in Bengaluru have registered an FIR against BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya over a video and objectionable posts for allegedly mocking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his Twitter account.
Based on a complaint filed by Ramesh Babu, co-chairman communication department of KPCC, the police booked Malviya charging him under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) 120b (criminal conspiracy), 505(2) (publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report · statements creating or promoting enmity) of the IPC.
The case has been filed for malicious posts against Rahul Gandhi. The complaint was made on a June 17 post by Amit Malviya of an animated video of Rahul Gandhi on Twitter with the caption: “Rahul Gandhi is dangerous and playing an insidious game…” In another tweet, the BJP leader shared an animated video that allegedly features altered versions of Gandhi’s speeches.
Babu also alleged that remarks such as “Rahul Gandhi is dangerous and playing an insidious game” and “More dangerous are people who are pulling strings of #Raga like Sam P(itroda), staunchly anti-India, they leave no stone unturned to defame India overseas, just to embarrass Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji” were defamatory and were meant to incite hatred. The video was misleading and attempted to spoil communal harmony, Babu also said.
“These posts are created for the purpose of provoking and inciting hatred and enmity between groups and disturbing communal harmony,” Babu said, adding that Malviya had conspired to create and post the video and other messages on his Twitter.
Priyank Kharge, the Karnataka Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, alleged that BJP leader was promoting enmity between groups and spreading hatred in society. He also responded to the BJP’s criticism that the complaint was politically motivated.
“Whenever BJP bears the burnt of law, they cry. They have a problem following the law of the land. I want to ask the BJP which part of the FIR has been filed with a mala fide intention. We have done it after taking legal opinion,” Kharge said.
Meanwhile, the Congress party on Wednesday intensified its attack on the ruling BJP at the Centre over the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities including fuel and cooking gas, with Rahul Gandhi alleging that the BJP was busy increasing the wealth of the capitalists. Listing the rates of tomatoes, lentils, and cooking gas, Gandhi said the poor are yearning to eat while the middle class was struggling to save some money.
“Tomato: ₹140 per kg, Cauliflower: ₹80 per kg, Toor Dal: ₹148 per kg, Arhar Dal: ₹219 per kg and cooking gas cylinder above ₹1,100. The BJP government, which is busy in increasing the wealth of capitalists and collecting taxes from the public, has forgotten the poor and middle-class families,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
“In the Congress-ruled states, we reduced the prices of gas to provide relief from inflation, put money in the accounts of the poor for financial assistance,” Gandhi wrote in Hindi. “Bharat Jodo Yatra is a pledge to remove hatred, remove inflation, unemployment and bring equality – BJP will not be allowed to divert attention from public issues,” he added, in a veiled reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to Uniform Civil Code ahead of crucial assembly elections later this year and the Parliamentary elections next year.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi made a strong pitch for the UCC, saying the Constitution also mentions having equal rights for all citizens. Addressing a gathering of party workers in Bhopal, Modi also said the BJP has decided it would not adopt the path of appeasement and vote bank politics.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also targeted Prime Minister Modi over the issue of price rise, in an apparent dismissal of Modi’s UCC pitch as a diversionary tactic. “The model of diverting the attention of the people from the price hike they are facing neither worked in Himachal and Karnataka nor will it work in Madhya Pradesh,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet.
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