Notice to Cong leaders; party wants action on govt tweets
The tussle over a social media “toolkit” to allegedly defame the government intensified on Tuesday as it emerged that two Congress functionaries were sent notices by the Delhi Police to join the investigation in a complaint they originally filed, even as their party urged Twitter to tag as “manipulated media” posts by 11 Union ministers for “spreading false and malicious propaganda”.
The row began when BJP leader Sambit Patra shared an image purportedly showing Congress documents on how to criticise the government and the PM. The post has now been flagged as “manipulated media” by Twitter.
On Monday, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in a letter to Twitter, flagged posts by Union ministers such as Piyush Goyal, Harsh Vardhan and Ravi Shankar Prasad for action. “...people tend to believe ‘true’ and take on face value, any information that is put up directly by a Union Minister of the Government of India,” the letter said.
On Tuesday, it emerged that the police last week sent notices to two Congress leaders – Rajeev Gowda, who heads the Congress’s research department, and Rohan Gupta, the party’s social media head – who had filed a complaint with the police on May 18, seeking an FIR against some senior BJP leaders for propagating the “fake toolkit”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lakshadweep unit president Mohammad Kasim on Tuesday joined the chorus of protests against the island’s administrator Praful Khoda Patel’s controversial new regulations a day after Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress members of Parliament aired their reservations about these. Kasim said people should be taken into confidence before announcing sweeping changes.
“It seems some of the grievances of the island people are genuine. It is always good to seek the opinion of people and their elected representatives before taking decisions. I have written to both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about this.”
The issue has snowballed into a major political controversy, with all parties closing their ranks. Strangely, the second in command in the BJP’S island unit said the charges were a mere “misinformation campaign” and said he was not aware of Kasim’s latest position.
In Delhi, the Congress demanded the recall of Patel and the withdrawal of all unilateral and “anti-people” orders issued and promulgated under his tenure. It accused Patel of attempting to “destroy the cultural heritage” of Lakshadweep.
Patel’s reforms attracted resentment among the locals, with many believing the changes are aimed at “destroying the unique culture and tradition” of the islands. About a dozen MPS including Mohammed Kasim, who represents the Island, sent letters to the President seeking his immediate recall.
Patel, the administrator of the UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, was given additional charge of Lakshadweep in last December following the death of Dineshwar Sharma.
The Congress, CPI(M) and Muslim League opposed the decisions, saying Patel was trying to “saffronise the island” where almost 95% population is Muslim. But the BJP defended Patel. Vice-president in charge A P Abdullah Kutty said: “These moves are aimed at the overall development of the island...”
HC stays admin order
The Kerala high court on Tuesday stayed an order of the Lakshadweep island administration, directing the Assistant Public Prosecutor to attend pending legal works of various government departments, instead of posting them in the courts there.
The HC granted the stay on a PIL by Mohd Saleem, challenging the directive of an Additional District Magistrate in Lakshadweep to the APP in Andrott.