The Bengaluru police on Thursday, May 9, summoned and questioned Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party’s social media convenor, Prashant Makanur, over the controversial animated video targeting Muslims.
The police action comes a day after BJP national president JP Nadda, IT cell chief Amit Malviya and State BJP president BY Vijayendra were summoned by the police in the same case. They were asked to appear before the Investigating Officer within a week.
On May 4, an animated video titled 'Yecchara, Yecchara, Yecchara' (beware, beware, beware) showing the Congress party “favouring" Muslims at the expense of other communities like the SCs and the ST was posted on the BJP Karnataka’s X account. Following this, the Karnataka police had filed a case under sections 505 (2) (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes) and Section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) of the Representation of the People Act based on a complaint by Ramesh Babu, the chairman of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Party's Media and Communication Wing.
Meanwhile, taking cognizance of the offensive video which violated the Model Code of Conduct, the Election Commission of India (ECI)had directed X to remove the video from its website.
However, the ECI was criticized for the delayed action after the conclusion of the elections in Karnataka.
“What is the point of asking BJP to pull down misleading and communal content after 10 million views on each of their social media handles and after the elections are done?” Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge said.