In the city of Nagpur, Union minister Nitin Gadkari took legal action against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday. The allegations revolved around the dissemination of misleading and defamatory content concerning Gadkari on the microblogging platform X.
Gadkari’s legal representative, Balendu Shekhar, expressed his client’s astonishment upon discovering the contents shared by the official Congress handle. Kharge and Ramesh were accused of purposefully sharing a 19-second video clip from Gadkari’s interview with “The Lallantop” web portal. According to the lawyer, this act concealed the contextual intent and meaning behind Gadkari’s words.
The legal notice asserted that a sinister act had been committed with the explicit intent to sow confusion, create sensation, and tarnish Gadkari’s reputation in the eyes of the public. It further suggested a futile attempt to create divisions within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is gearing up for the upcoming general election, aiming to secure the trust of the people.
According to the notice, Gadkari’s interview had been twisted and distorted through the deliberate uploading of a video that lacked contextual meaning. This manipulation was coupled with a carefully chosen Hindi caption: “Aaj gaon, mazdoor aur kisan dukhi hai. Gaon mein achhe roads nahi hai, peene ke liye shudh pani nahi hai, achhe aspatal nahi hai, achhe schools nahi hai — Modi sarkar ke mantri Nitin Gadkari (Villages, laborers, and farmers are unhappy today. Villages do not have roads, drinking water, good hospitals, and schools — Nitin Gadkari, a minister in the Modi government).”
The notice accused Kharge and Ramesh of deliberately posting the Hindi caption and video clip, despite being aware of the full content of Gadkari’s interview, wherein the government’s efforts were highlighted. It called for the removal of the mentioned post from the microblogging site ‘X’ within 24 hours of receiving the legal notice. Additionally, a written apology to Gadkari within three days was demanded, warning of potential legal actions if the requests were not met.