The Bengaluru police have filed a case against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who also serves as the Congress state president, for allegedly sharing provocative and false social media posts about BJP leaders. The case, registered on Monday, includes Congress social media cell head BR Naidu as well. This action followed an order from Bengaluru’s Special Court for People’s Representatives, prompted by a complaint lodged by Yogendra Hodaghatta, a former secretary of the BJP’s legal cell.
Hodaghatta accused the Congress of manipulating and misrepresenting the BJP’s campaign materials. The police registered the case under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 504 (intentional insult, giving provocation), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 464 (making a false document) of the Indian Penal Code.
Earlier in January, the BJP protested against the arrest of Srikanth Pujari, a right-wing activist, over an incident of arson and rioting following the Babri Masjid demolition in Hubballi in 1992. During the protest, BJP workers displayed placards reading “I am also a kar sevak, arrest me too.” Allegedly, the Congress information technology cell edited the writing on the placards to resemble a confession statement on scams and circulated them on social media. These posts were also shared from DK Shivakumar’s social media handles.
