Will not take 'fake, divisive news' peddled by BJP leaders lying down: Congress

The Congress on Monday said it has initiated legal action in five cases of "fake and divisive news" peddled by BJP leaders and their "online hate factory" to hurt Bharat Jodo Yatra, asserting that it will not take this lying down.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also shared a police complaint by Kerala MP Hibi Eden against a particularly "vicious bhakt".

"We have initiated legal action in five cases of fake and divisive news peddled by BJP leaders and their bhakt online hate factory to hurt Bharat Jodo Yatra. Be warned! We will not take this lying down," Ramesh said.

In the police complaint shared by Ramesh on Twitter, Congress MP Hibi Eden complained against a social media post with two pictures.

"The impression these pictures sought to convey was that INC leader Rahul Gandhi was posing with an individual who had been accused of sloganeering 'Pakistan Zindabad' on a previous occasion. However, as was made clear almost immediately, the individuals in the photographs were two separate and distinct people," Eden said.

"The distortion was not an innocent one because it sought to falsely and maliciously suggest that former INC president Rahul Gandhi, who was on a yatra to unite Indians had demonstrated sympathy for individuals who supported Pakistan and approved their illegal sloganeering and was ultimately attempting to 'break India'," he said.

Thus, it is clear that this "malicious post" was designed to create a dangerously false impression in the minds of the viewers regarding the Congress leader's approach towards Pakistan and individuals involved in the illegal sloganeering in support of Pakistan; and to foment social tensions in the Bharat Jodo Yatra rallies led by Gandhi, Eden said.

He requested that an urgent and immediate FIR be registered by police under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed its journey on Monday from Shornur in Kerala's Palakkad district with hundreds of party workers accompanying Rahul Gandhi in the walk.

The morning leg of the march, which entered its 19th day, will cover 12.3 km and halt at Pattambi.

The Congress party tweeted that the yatra entered Palakkad district with "excitement and hope".


Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan and Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan joined Rahul Gandhi in the morning session of the yatra.

Hundreds of people waited on both sides of the road to meet Rahul Gandhi. A group of young girls presented the Congress leader with a framed drawing of himself.

With PTI inputs