Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lodged a police complaint on Wednesday against seven persons for allegedly spreading fake news to stir up communal tension ahead of the coming Lok Sabha polls.
Meanwhile, the Congress’ state unit also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the BJP for circulation of fabricated content and violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Siddaramaiah said: “The miscreants supported by the unholy alliance of BJP-JDS have fabricated a piece of disinformation mimicking a report from the Kannada newspaper. This fake news is loaded with content that stirs up communal tensions and has been widely disseminated across social media platforms. I have already lodged a complaint with the police about this. We have information about the vested interests behind this and the police will take necessary action.”
The police complaint has been lodged with the West Division CEN (Cybercrime, Economic Offences and Narcotics) police station in Bengaluru.
Siddaramaiah said that “resorting to such deceitful tactics to win elections, rather than engaging with political opponents through fair and honest means, shows the intellectual bankruptcy of the BJP and JD-S. A party that has ruled the country for 10 years should not have stooped to such a despicable level of manufacturing fake news to win an election”.
“Be cautious before believing and sharing fake news. We will root out the creators of such fake news and those backing them through legal means,” the Chief Minister added.
State Congress’ Media and Communications Chairman Ramesh Babu, General Secretary Vijay Mathikatti and Legal Cell Vice Chairman Diwakar Narayanaswamy lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer, saying social media accounts associated with BJP released a spurious image mimicking a newspaper clipping, featuring an image of Siddaramaiah and accompanied by misappropriate quotes, to falsely assert that the CM prioritised Muslim votes over those of Hindus, among other communal and inflammatory statements.
“Given the gravity of the legal violations by the BJP party’s official handle, and considering the specific offences under IPC’s Sections 153 A, 504 and 505 (2), Sections 79(3)(b) of the IT Act and violations of the Model Code of Conduct, it is incumbent upon the responsible authorities to act decisively and ensure accountability,” the Congress said, demanding swift action.
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