FIR in Chhattisgarh against Rathore, two other BJP MPs over doctored video of Rahul Gandhi: Cong

The Congress on Monday said an FIR has been registered against BJP MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and two fellow party MPs on its complaint related to a doctored video of Rahul Gandhi, allegedly aimed at disturbing communal harmony.

The FIR against the former I&B Minister, BJP MPs Subrat Pathak and Bhola Singh, besides its MLA in Uttar Pradesh Kamlesh Saini was registered in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, according to chief of the party's media and publicity team Pawan Khera.

The Congress has also lodged complaints against the BJP leaders in Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Khera and the party's social media in-charge Supriya Shrinate told reporters.

A video in which Rahul Gandhi describes those attacking his Wayanad office as children and saying he had no ill-will against them was ''mischievously'' used by a TV channel to suggest he was forgiving the killers of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal, the Congress had said. The channel has since issued a public apology for airing the doctored video.

The Congress also shared pictures of BJP leaders with a terrorist arrested from Srinagar and the prime accused in the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur and asked what relation does the ruling party have with those fomenting terror and its alleged links with them.

''The BJP is not only pushing the country into flames of hatred and anger, but it is also fostering terrorists in its organisation. Extremism, Terror, Bigotry - how far will the BJP go,'' the Congress alleged in a tweet posted along with a video of pictures of the accused in Udaipur and the Srinagar terrorist with BJP leaders.

The complaints follow Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh writing to BJP president J P Nadda to say the party should initiate action against its leaders for spreading fake news against Rahul Gandhi and get the doctored video removed from their Twitter timelines.

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 alleged.

''Peddling fake news on social media is one thing but using social media in cahoots with terrorists will not be accepted. At such a sensitive time in the country, how can they dare to spread a fake video involving Rahul Gandhi. 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,'' Shrinate said.

''We have to make social media a safe platform, a platform for public discourse and for policy discussions, giving suggestions to improve the policies.'' The Congress also said on its official Twitter handle that Modi and his government make so many statements on security and their complete disapproval of any anti-national or terror activities but the country asks what are they doing to protect the country from the ''threatening elements'' in their own organisation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)