An FIR has been filed in Bengaluru against Minister of State for Railways, Ravneet Singh Bittu who had called Rahul Gandhi the “number one terrorist of the country” during a public statement on September 15. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, reacting to the registration of FIRs against BJP leaders, said that the law will come into force when they go beyond the limit.
Speaking to media persons on Thursday, Karnataka HM G Parameshwara said, “There is a cause for this action since he (Ravneet Singh Bittu) has made a statement that Rahul Gandhi is a terrorist naturally we cannot tolerate that. There was a complaint and an FIR has been registered…The party workers gave a complaint and we registered an FIR…”
Meanwhile amid the row over the Mandya clashes, FIRs have also been registered against Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje and Karnataka LoP and BJP leader R Ashoka on Wednesday for allegedly posting spreading false information on the clashes in the Nagamangala town of Mandya in Karnataka.
“Shobha Karandlaje is a Union Minister and R Ashoka is LoP, when they go beyond the limit, naturally, the law will come into force,” said the Karnataka Home Minister as he defended the decision to file the FIRs.
G Parameshwara further dismissed the BJP’s claims of politicising the issue and said when there is a cause of action, there will be a reaction, which led to the registration of FIRs against them.
“No, there is not (any politicisation) of issue. Why do they make such statements? Why would we go and register an FIR against them? Why should we? When there is a cause of action, naturally, there will be a reaction. So that is why FIRs have been registered,” Parmeshwara said.
The FIR against Shobha Karandlaje claims that the Union Minister, in a social media post on X, accused the Mandya Police of “arresting” a Lord Ganesh idol.
The FIR has been filed under Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS 2003) – Section 192. This section refers to wantonly giving provocation to cause riot in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS 2003).
In her defence, the Union Minister says she will face the FIR but an NIA enquiry needs to be ordered into the incident at Naagamangala.
Meanwhile, in the complaint against LoP R ashoka, it is alleged that Ashoka had posted video clippings of an incident that occurred somewhere and connected it to the Nagamangala incident. The case has been filed in the Nagamangala police station.
LoP R Ashoka lashed out at Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara and said that the FIR should first be filed against Parameshwara for “giving false information” to the people and calling the incident ‘minor’ and ‘accidental’.
Terming registration of an FIR against him as a sign of “cowardice act”, Ashoka called the state government a “weak government” who, according to him, is unable to prevent “riots” in the state.