Case against BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya over Rahul Gandhi video

A case has been registered against BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya after the Congress in Karnataka complained that he had posted a video on social media which portrayed Rahul Gandhi as a “pawn of foreign forces”.

The Karnataka Police said on Wednesday it registered a case following a complaint from Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee member Ramesh Babu alleging Malviya promoted enmity and instigated people.

The tweet showed an animated video allegedly depicting former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his party in poor light.

According to the FIR, Malviya tweeted a video with captions, “Rahul Gandhi is dangerous and playing an insidious game” and “More dangerous are people who are pulling strings of #Raga like Sam P, staunchly anti-India, they leave no stone unturned to defame India overseas, just to embarrass PM @Narendramodiji”.

Malviya has been booked under sections 153(A), 120(B), 505(2) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code which pertain to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and conspiracy.

Malviya video

Soon after the FIR was registered, Malviya reposted the same tweet with a caption in Hindi – “Rahul Gandhi Videshi taaqaton ka mohra” (Rahul Gandhi a pawn of foreign forces).

BJP and Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya tweeted: “The FIR filed against Sri @amitmalviya is politically motivated. Plain and simple.”

He said both 153A and 505(2) of IPC deal with promoting enmity between groups. “So, what is Rahul Gandhi? An individual or a group or a class? We will challenge this in the court & ensure justice.”

Karnataka IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge, son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who accompanied Babu on June 19 to lodge the complaint, accused the BJP of crying foul whenever it faces the law.

“They (BJP) have a problem with following the law of the land and they have a problem with the constitution,” Priyank Kharge told the media on Wednesday. “And if we enforce the law or the constitution. they have a problem with that.”

Kharge added: “I would like to ask the BJP, tell me which part of the FIR that has been lodged against Malviya with malafide intention? Who is the creator of the video? Who is the one spreading the video? Who is getting the video to have enough traction on social media? Who is spreading these lies?”

(With agency inputs)