Merely days after posting an animated hate video calling Muslims the “favourite community” of the Congress and claiming that the party, if elected, would “snatch the wealth of all non-Muslims and give it to Muslims,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has posted yet another animated video – this time customised for the state of Karnataka.
The video posted on Saturday, May 4, shows a nest that has three eggs labelled ‘SC’, ‘ST’ and ‘OBC’, to which a figure resembling Rahul Gandhi adds a larger egg labelled ‘Muslims’. Another character resembling Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is seen laughing with Rahul. The eggs hatch and the bird that emerges from the egg named ‘Muslim’ seems bigger than the others and wears a skull cap and has a beard. Rahul Gandhi is shown feeding the larger bird “funds” while all the others are left hungry. Eventually, the bird grows larger and eliminates others, and Rahul and Siddaramaiah are shown laughing victoriously. “Beware!” the caption said.
This video, yet again targeting the Muslim community, comes amidst the elections and is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). It was posted by the @BJP4Karnataka account on X.
After the hateful ad was posted, the Congress filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against BJP national president JP Nadda, BJP social media in-charge Amit Malviya, and BJP Karnataka president BY Vijayendra. The complaint said that the ad tried to intimidate SC, ST voters by portraying Rahul Gandhi and Siddaramaiah as leaders who favour “a particular religion” and “suppress” members of SC, ST, and OBC communities.
In its earlier video, which was either deleted by the BJP or taken down by Instagram, the party directly targeted Muslims and called the Congress’ manifesto the “Muslim League’s ideology in disguise.” The animated video also said that the Congress, if voted to power, would take all the money and wealth of “non-Muslims” and distribute it to Muslims.
Prior to that, in a speech made in Rajasthan, Modi called Muslims “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.
Despite all of these clearly being hate speeches, the ECI has not yet taken any action on the Prime Minister. The ECI had sent a notice to BJP president JP Nadda over the speech of a ‘star campaigner’, but it has neither mentioned Modi’s name nor the claims he has been making. Nor did it question Modi directly. It has invoked the Representation of the People’s Act, and held the heads of political parties responsible for the statement of a ‘star campaigner.’
