Congress has demanded the leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party to issue an apology for sharing an edited video of Rahul Gandhi, which alleged that he called the Udaipur murder accused as ‘children’.
Congress Communication In-charge Jairam Ramesh wrote a letter to BJP president J.P. Nadda on Saturday, referring to the Zee News report aired on July 1, which allegedly linked Gandhi’s comments on the attack on his Wayanad office with the murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur.
Gandhi had made certain remarks about the workers of the Students Federation of India (SFI), who attacked his office in Kerala’s Wayanad last week.
Ramesh alleged in the letter that many BJP leaders, such as Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, MP; Subrat Pathak MP; Kamlesh Saini, MLA and others, had published and shared the fabricated and distorted reportage, without verification.
It said the original video contained comments of Rahul on the SFI violence on his Wayanad office, but it was “deliberately doctored” to appear as if it was a comment on the heinous murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, he noted.
He said despite being cautioned by Congress leaders, some of their BJP counterparts deliberately uploaded the video. Ramesh alleged that such action was formed part of BJP’s strategy to defame both the former president of Congress and the grand old party, apart from polarising the situation further, which was already sensitive and communal.
Ramesh demanded the BJP national president to apologise on behalf of his colleagues and tell them to desist from spreading such false reports.
He warned that if the apology was not issued, Congress will initiate legal action against BJP leaders, adding that they have already initiated legal action against the “original broadcaster”.
Zee News has already apologised for the error. Its Anchor Rohit Ranjan said, “We presented the news with a misleading context in our show DNA and we regret it.”
Rahul Gandhi had earlier, while referring to the attack on his office in Wayanad, had said, “They are also children. They have acted in an irresponsible way. I don’t have any anger or hostility towards them.”
On Saturday, without referencing any specific incident, Rahul tweeted in Hindi, “Propaganda and lies are the foundation of BJP-RSS. The whole India knows the history of BJP-RSS, which put the country in the fire of hatred. No matter what these traitors do to break this country, Congress will continue to unite it.”