The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday directed social media site X (formerly Twitter) to immediately take down a video post by the handle of BJP's Karnataka Unit, following a complaint filed by the Congress to the poll body regarding the video. An FIR had also been filed in Karnataka for promoting communal disharmony.
What did the video show?
The video depicted caricatures of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. It shows the leaders putting an egg marked 'Muslim' on a bird's nest. After the egg hatches, Rahul Gandhi feeds 'funds' to the 'Muslim' hatchling while others strive for it. The 'Muslim' hatchling becomes big as a result, and kicks the three others - SC, ST, and OBC - out as Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah laugh.
What did ECI say?
In a letter to the Nodal officer to X, ECI stated, "I am directed to inform that the post of "BJP4Karnataka" (as mentioned below) is violative of extant legal framework."
"An FIR (copy enclosed) has already been registered in the matter. It is further brought to your notice that Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka through Cyber Crime Division, Bengaluru has already directed X on 05.05.2024 to take down the objectionable post as per Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act and rule 3(1)(d) of The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. However, the post has not been taken down yet," the EC letter said.
"Therefore, 'X' is directed to take down the post immediately. This is issued with the approval of the competent authority," the ECI ordered.
Congress had filed a complaint
The Karnataka Congress had lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, accusing the BJP of promoting enmity and hatred between the Muslim and the SC/ST communities. The complaint was made against BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya, party chief JP Nadda, party state president BY Vijayendra, and the Karnataka BJP social media team.
In its complaint, Karnataka Congress stated that nowhere in the manifesto of the grand old party has it been mentioned that funds will be cut from the SC, ST, or OBC community, yet the BJP has been utilizing "false propaganda" for votes in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
"The act is to portray the SC and ST community in a derogatory manner, and the act showing SC and ST community being 'kicked out' by another religion (Muslim) is with the intent to prevent or intimidate a member of the Scheduled Caste or Tribe to not vote for a particular candidate attracting an offence punishable under Section 3 (L)(A) of SC/ST PoA Act 1989," the complaint said.
The Congress also filed an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda, IT cell head Amit Malviya, and party's Karnataka unit chief BY Vijayendra over the video.