BJP lodges complaint with Election Commission against Congress for ‘spreading lies’, creating ‘atmosphere of tension’

Opposition parties have been alleging that BJP is seeking more than 400 seats in Lok Sabha election as it wants to change Constitution

Photo for representational purpose only.

PTI

New Delhi, May 2

The BJP on Thursday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress, alleging that it is trying to create an “atmosphere of tension” in society and "spreading lies" that the Constitution will be changed.

Opposition parties have been alleging that the BJP is seeking more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections as it wants to change the Constitution and end quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and party leader Om Pathak approached the commission with the complaint, in which the party also accused opposition INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, of uploading and sharing deepfake videos.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attacking members of the bloc over a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech going viral on social media.

The Delhi Police on Sunday had registered an FIR after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the home ministry, filed a complaint in the doctored video case. It has, since then, summoned 22 people, including Congress leader and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur.

“The Congress and other opposition parties are continuously spreading lies about individuals, policies and the constitutional system. Efforts are being made to create an atmosphere of tension in society. We brought to the notice of the Election Commission (EC) more than 15 such instances,” Trivedi told reporters after meeting officials of the poll panel here.

In a bid to create hurdles in the conduct of a free and fair elections, this is being done by the Congress and its allies in an “organised manner”, he alleged.

“The Congress is making such statements and its allies repeat them. And, then their social media (units) spread the same lies, confusions and deepfake (videos) in an unlawful manner among the people,” Trivedi said.

He said the poll panel gave a patient hearing to the BJP delegation and assured it of taking appropriate action.

Talking to reporters, Chandrasekhar said, “In the last two phases of the elections, Congress has consistently depended on a series of political lies that has emerged from as high as Rahul Gandhi to many of its leaders”.

The Congress is pursuing a political strategy based on lies and distortion of facts. It is misleading the people by making them believe in its lies such as the BJP will change the Constitution if it wins the elections, he said.

“The BJP delegation met the Election Commission and alerted it to the challenge that this will pose to free and fair conduct of polls,” Chandrasekhar said.

The EC should look into these issues at the earliest to ensure that elections are conducted freely and fairly and that people are not mislead by the Congress’ “politics of lies”, he said.