Karnataka Police Summons BJP National President JP Nadda and Amit Malviya Over 'Objectionable Post'

Karnataka: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda and the party's IT Cell chief Amit Malviya has been summoned by the Karnataka Police regarding an 'objectionable post' shared by the Karnataka unit of the party. A notice was issued to them by the Investigating Officer of the Highgrounds Police in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Karnataka Police summons BJP National President JP Nadda and party's Amit Malviya before Bengaluru's High Grounds PS within 7 days in connection with a tweet posted by BJP Karnataka allegedly against SC/ST community pic.twitter.com/SfKe2gR2gh

— ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2024

The development follows a directive from the Election Commission to the micro-blogging site X to promptly remove the post shared by the Karnataka BJP unit. In response to the Election Commission's action, a letter from the poll panel stated, "I am directed to inform that the post of "BJP4Karnataka" (as mentioned below) is violative of extant legal framework."  

Read Also |EC Orders X To Immediately Take Down BJP Karnataka's 'Communal' Post

"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.

Earlier, an FIR was filed against JP Nadda, Amit Malviya, and BJP Karnataka unit chief BY Vijayendra for sharing a video on social media allegedly showing Congress favouritism towards Muslims in reservation policies. The video, posted by the Karnataka BJP, purportedly showed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah allocating more funds to Muslims compared to SCs, STs, and OBCs.