BJP alleges ‘toolkit’ plot to hurt India’s image; Cong calls it fake

NEW DELHI: Pandemic politics intensified on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the Congress prepared elaborate “toolkits” to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi, build a biased narrative over India’s Covid-19 management, politicise religious events, and link the medical crisis to the Central Vista project.

The Congress responded by dismissing the charges as fake, and lodging a complaint of forgery and cyber crime with the Delhi Police.

A document circulating on social media -- with Congress party symbols and markings on it -- was shared and cited by BJP leaders as an alleged call to arms by the Congress to its supporters. The document asked its readers to tarnish Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image and “erode his popularity”; suggested using phrases such as “Indian strain” and “Modi strain” for the variants of Covid-19 that were first detected in the country; and cited briefing foreign journalists over India’s mismanagement of the second wave of the virus.

The BJP attack on Tuesday was led by party president JP Nadda, who accused the Congress of “dividing society” and “spewing venom”. Hours earlier, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sambit Patra first posted the documents on Twitter.

Congress leader Rajeev Gowda said the BJP was propagating a “fake toolkit on Covid-19 mismanagement” and attributing it to the Congress. “When our country is devastated by Covid, instead of providing relief, the BJP shamelessly concocts forgeries,” he said, adding that the party was filing charges against Nadda and Patra

The purported document also suggested the use of phrases such as “missing [home minister] Amit Shah”, “quarantined [external affairs minister S] Jaishankar”, and “insensitive [finance minister] Nirmala Sitharaman”.