Rajya Sabha MP Naseer Hussain has flatly denied allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party that his supporters shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ in the Vidhana Soudha, the assembly building, following the Karnataka Rajya Sabha elections on February 27. Many BJP leaders including Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Shobha Karandlaje, and R Ashoka, had taken to social media sharing a video in which Hussain’s supporters can be seen shouting slogans. Meanwhile, fact checker Mohammed Zubair of AltNews has put out the video in slow motion and circled the man shouting the slogan and said that he was saying ‘Naseer Saab Zindabad’ and not ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah meanwhile said that a forensic test would be done and if the allegation was true, the person would be punished. Nasser Hussain has called for an investigation into the ‘BJP’s mischief’. "Let there be an investigation. In the present day, technology is advanced. It might be a conspiracy," Naseer Hussain said. It must be noted that a few Kannada channels also aired the video. Meanwhile, the Karnataka BJP has also filed a police complaint against Naseer Hussain demanding legal action.
Chittapur MLA and Congress leader Priyank Kharge took to X and said that if the MP had shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, the people present at Vidhana Soudha would not have remained silent. “They would have caught the person immediately and handed him over to the police, there would have been no change in the mannerism of the people gathered there, including journalists. If suddenly that person had shouted slogans like that, why was the patriotism of the journalists not conscious? Why did you act as if nothing happened?,” he asked, stating that whenever the BJP faces challenges in the country, "Pakistan Zindabad" sound is heard.
Opposition leader R Ashoka urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to arrest those who purportedly raised the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans. The BJP leader said on X, “A written complaint was then submitted to the police against MP Nasir Hussain and his supporters. If such traitors are expelled from the party and the people of the country are not apologised, it will be assumed that this is the official stand of the Congress party.”
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said he has written to the Election Commission of India against Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar for spreading fake news and misusing his power. “The Union Minister shared a piece of brazen fake news where he claimed that slogans of Pakistan Zindabad were chanted by supporters of Congress MP Naseer Hussain at the Karnataka Assembly. This is a serious looming threat and a planned agenda by BJP & Modi Govt to prevent free & fair Lok Sabha elections by misusing social media while silencing opponents,” a social media post read.
In a closely-fought contest in Karnataka, all three Congress candidates, Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain and GC Chandrashekhar, emerged victorious in the Rajya Sabha elections held on February 27. The BJP is expected to raise the slogan issue in both the houses on February 28.