New Delhi: In the lead-up to the Jharkhand assembly elections, tensions have escalated as a complaint was filed against the BJP’s Jharkhand unit for disseminating misleading and defamatory content targeting opposition leaders on social media. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), leading to an FIR registered at the cybercrime police station in Ranchi on Sunday, November 10.
According to the FIR, the BJP’s social media posts allegedly contain false claims intended to dissuade voters from supporting opposition candidates. Congress has accused the BJP of trying to unduly influence voters through a misleading advertisement on its official Jharkhand handle. The post is pinned on the @BJP4Jharkhand page.
The communal post depicts characters resembling prominent opposition leaders – Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Kalpana Soren and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav – portraying them as “anti-tribal” and corrupt. The video begins with a conversation between characters portraying Hemant and Kalpana, who is portrayed as materialistic. The video then introduces characters portraying Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, with the former talking about “how his grandmother (Indira Gandhi) had opened fire at Jharkhand revolutionaries during her tenure as prime minister.” Hemant Soren’s character then goes on to say that they would seek votes by pretending to care about Jharkhand with the support of Muslims.
BJP Jharkhand has attacked Hemant and Kalpana Soren through similar campaign techniques ahead of the two-phase elections on November 13 and 20. Much of BJP’s campaigns in Jharkhand have consisted of pitting the sizeable Adivasi population in the state against what Prime Minister Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and practically all BJP leaders have labelled as “infiltrators” – alleged immigrants from Bangladesh.
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Congress claims the communal video is designed to manipulate public opinion, constituting a breach of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and relevant legal statutes. In response, the cybercrime police station has formally requested the social media platform to remove the allegedly defamatory content under Section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act.
In his memorandum to the ECI, Ramesh demanded that all versions of the ad be taken down and urged the ECI to initiate prompt action against the BJP’s Jharkhand social media handles. He contended that the video, caricaturing opposition leaders, has the potential to unfairly sway voters and violates electoral norms.
“A complaint has just been lodged with the Election Commission on a most disgusting ad relating to Jharkhand put out by the BJP officially. It not only brazenly and blatantly violates the ECI’s Model Code of Conduct, it is also an act of serious criminality,” Ramesh posted on X.
