Delhi police summon Telangana CM in Amit Shah's doctored video case

The Delhi police has summoned Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday (May 1) in connection with a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The video was allegedly shared by the official X handle of Telangana Congress, after which many party leaders reposted the video, claiming it exposed the BJP’s “agenda to abolish SC/ST reservation quotas”.

Following complaints from the BJP and the Union Home Ministry, the Delhi police registered a case in connection with the edited video being widely circulating on social media platforms. In the altered video, the Home Minister was seen advocating for the abolition of reservation quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Notices to X, Facebook

Based on the complaint, the police registered a case under Sections 153, 153A, 465, 469, 171G of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66C of the Information Technology (IT) Act and a probe was initiated. The police also sent notices to the X and Facebook seeking information on the accounts that uploaded and shared the video.

Apart from the Telangana chief minister, four other people, all from Telangana, have also been served notices to join the probe into the case.

The BJP has claimed that the video was manipulated to distort Shah's original statements made during a political rally.

“The Congress is spreading an edited video which is completely fake and has the potential to cause large-scale violence. Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about removing the unconstitutional reservation given to Muslims, on the basis of religion, after reducing the share of SCs/STs and OBCs,” said BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya.

Malviya claimed the “fake video” was posted by several Congress spokespersons. “They must be prepared for legal consequences,” he posted on X.

‘Rahul misleading people’

Meanwhile, Shah on Sunday reaffirmed that there would be no rethink on reservations or quotas to SC/ST and OBC communities as long as the BJP-led NDA was in power. He also targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his charge that the BJP wants to take back reservations if elected for a third term.

"Rahul Gandhi is trying to mislead people by spreading canards against us. The BJP has been at the helm of this country for 10 years now and was elected with absolute majority twice. If we had, indeed, been working with the intention or motivation to put an end to reservations in the country, it would have happened by now. These are nothing but lies," Shah told news agency ANI.

Rahul had earlier alleged that the BJP government at the Centre wants to alter the country's Constitution and take away the reservations and other rights of the backward communities and Dalits.