Bengaluru: The Karnataka unit Of the BJP has filed a complaint with the Bengaluru city police commissioner demanding legal action against websites that are spreading fake news about its National President Amit Shah.
The state unit has submitted a petition naming specific websites like mybengalooru.com and facebook pages titled ‘namma nechinna mukhyamantri,’ as spreading false news about Shah.
The petition is signed by party general secretaries N Ravikumar and CT Ravi (who is also an MLA), stating that the website falsely quotes Shah as telling people to hoist the party flag and not the Kannada flag on November 1 (which is observed as Rajyothsava/ State Formation Day).
“As elections near, such lowly tactics threaten harmony in the name of language politics,” the petition states. Karnataka is headed for its Assembly polls in April-May 2018.
“We suspect that people close to Chief Minister Siddarmaiah have started this website, as it is also shared widely through the facebook page ‘namme nechchina mukhyamantri.’ This is false propaganda against the BJP and its national president. An enquiry should be taken up by the people who run such websites and legal action against the organisation under section 499 (defamation laws) of the IPC,” the petition further states.
BJP spokesperson S Prakash later posted on social media that such tactics and fake messages show “the desperation of BJP’s adversaries is going beyond imagination. Fake narratives are created to set false and concocted status messages. Police Commissioner must arrest all those involved in this malicious mischievous fabricated campaign”.
The complaint saw some amusement and banter on social media, with Congress spokesperson Milind Dharmasen tagging other Congress workers (including lawyers) on the issue and commenting: “Few things we have to learn from BJP. So why don't we lodge a complaint on websites creating fake news on Congress too… like postcard.com? Get ready to lodge a complaint guys.”
The debate comes just a day after BJP MLA and former Home Minister R Ashok accused the State government of tapping the phones of BJP leaders ahead of elections – a charge refuted by the Congress, with the CM saying, “This is not in our culture. It is the Centre that is tapping many phones, including Congress leaders’. But we let it go, as it is petty.”
Ironically, the BJP (including CT Ravi) has earlier been called out on social media for putting up fake photos of potholes in Mumbai as ‘potholes in Bengaluru after the rains’ and for circulating information about huge cash deposits to be made ahead of celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi festival. As they say, what goes around, comes around. Including fake news propaganda.
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