Congress files FIR against BJP legislators for spreading fake video featuring Rahul Gandhi

The party said the video for allegedly aimed at disturbing communal harmony

An FIR was registered against four Bharatiya Janata Party MPs and MLA, including former Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore, in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur, for spreading a fake video of Rahul Gandhi claiming he wanted to forgive Udaipur killings, the Congress said on Monday. Apart from the FIR, complaints have been filed in five other states for spreading the fake video.

The FIR against the MPs in Chattisgarh come a day after the Rajasthan Police filed an FIR against a news anchor and others. Congress’s media and publicity department chairman Pawan Khera said the party has also filed complaints in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi against the three MPs—Rathore, Bhola Nath and Subrat Pathak—and UP MLA Kamlesh Saini.

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This is the second such FIR, after a news channel reported that Rahul wanted to forgive Kanhaiya Lal’s killers, when he was talking about forgiving the SFI activists who vandalised his office in Wayanad, Kerala. Lal was murdered, execution style, in Udaipur by two Muslim men for his Facebook post supporting Nupur Sharma.

Congress social media wing head Supriya Shrinate accused Rathore of sedition. “If an attempt is made by a former Union minister to spread fake news with the intention of disturbing communal harmony in the country, it amounts to sedition,” she said.

The FIR and complaints were filed after Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh served an ultimatum to BJP president JP Nadda to apologise by Sunday for circulating the fake video or face legal consequences.

“Why are these people igniting the fire of hatred all over the country? We ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he has converted MPs and MLAs to 'two-rupee trolls'. The problem is those who peddle fake news get promotions in the BJP. Everyone knows what the current Information and Broadcasting Minister (Anurag Thakur) said during Delhi riots, and he was promoted,” Shrinate said.

"Spreading fake news on social media is one thing but using social media in cahoots with terrorists will not be accepted," she said.

“Apart from fake news, this is also a conspiracy, because even if Twitter posts are deleted, WhatsApp messages would remain in circulation and disturb peace," she added.

Khera alleged that the BJP has links with terrorists and pointed out to alleged links of accused in Udaipur killings and their arrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Terrorist Talib Shah, who was caught in Kashmir on Sunday, has been found to be a member of the BJP minority cell in the state. Riaz Attari, prime accused in the killing of the Udaipur tailor, was also a BJP member,” Khera said.