After Congress’ complaint to the Election Commission (EC), an FIR was filed against BJP president JP Nadda, the party’s IT cell head Amit Malviya, and Karnataka unit chief BY Vijayendra over a social media post allegedly aimed at intimidating members of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities from voting for a specific candidate, police said on Monday.
On Sunday, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) filed a complaint with both the Election Commission and the police, alleging a violation of the model code of conduct.
The FIR was filed under sections of the Representation of People Act and section 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code, a senior police officer mentioned.
In the complaint, the KPCC referenced a video uploaded on the social media platform ‘X’ by the official account of Karnataka unit of the BJP. The KPCC alleged that the account is operated by Malviya, under the instructions of Nadda, Vijayendra, and the social media Incharge of Karnataka BJP, on May 4.
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The 17-second clip, titled “Beware.. Beware.. Beware..!” in Kannada, depicts Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah placing a large egg labelled ‘Muslims’ in a nest alongside ‘SC’, ‘ST’, and ‘OBC’ eggs. Following an explosion sound, a large hatchling with a skull cup and beard is shown gazing at the three other hatchlings. Subsequently, the video portrays Gandhi feeding all the ‘funds’ to the large hatchling, causing it to grow bigger and expel the other three from the nest.
The video surfaced amid recent claims by BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that Congress had included Muslims in the OBC list, depriving the OBC community. However, it’s worth noting that reservation for Muslims in Karnataka was implemented during the tenure of JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda in 1995.
This incident comes on the heels of the deletion of another animated video by the national BJP unit, which targeted the Congress, alleging wealth redistribution from non-Muslims to Muslims.
In Karnataka, the remaining 14 Lok Sabha constituencies are set to vote on May 7.