Image Credits - Hindustan Times
The Congress party in Karnataka has lodged a formal complaint against BJP national president J.P. Nadda, the party’s IT cell head Amit Malviya, and state unit chief B.Y. Vijayendra for posting a video on social media allegedly aimed at intimidating members of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities.
The complaint comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegations against the Congress government in Karnataka of issuing an “overnight fatwa” to include Muslims in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) segment to provide them with quota benefits.
The letter, submitted by Ramesh Babu, chairman of the media and communications department of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), pointed to a video shared on the official social media accounts of the Karnataka BJP. The video depicts animated characters of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The controversial video portrays SC, ST, and OBCs as “eggs” in a basket, apparently representing reservation. It then shows an animated character of Rahul Gandhi planting another “egg” representing the Muslim community into the reservation basket. The video further depicts Congress leaders favouring the Muslim community over SC, ST, and OBCs by putting more funds into their mouths.
“In the said video, it is projected as though funds are fed into the mouth of the Muslim Community, and that the Muslim Community kicks out the SC, ST, and OBC community,” Ramesh Babu stated.
He alleged that this portrayal not only violates the model code of conduct but also constitutes an offence under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989.
The video has sparked controversy and heightened tensions between the two parties as the Karnataka election campaign intensifies. The Congress party has accused the BJP of attempting to intimidate and marginalize the SC, ST, and OBC communities through the controversial video.
ಎಚ್ಚರ.. ಎಚ್ಚರ.. ಎಚ್ಚರ..! pic.twitter.com/Pr75QHf4lI
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 4, 2024