New Delhi, Mar 2: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has sent legal notices to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary Jairam Ramesh for sharing alleged defamatory content about him on the party's official X account.
Balendu Shekhar, Gadkari's lawyer, said the BJP leader was shocked to see that a 19-second-long video clip was taken out of his interview with a news portal. The clip, his lawyer said, concealed the context and the meaning of his words.
Per the notices, Nitin Gadkari's interview was twisted and distorted. His lawyer accused the Congress leaders of carrying out a sinister act with the sole intent and ulterior motive of fanning and creating confusion, sensation and disrepute.
“While pursuing the said sinister act, my client's interview has also been twisted, distorted, and presented on your handle ‘X' by uploading the above video, which is bereft and devoid of contextual meaning. The same has been done deliberately and consciously with a selected piece of Hindi captions,” his lawyer wrote in the notice.
What was in the video?
The video was a clip taken out of Nitin Gadkari's interview with The Lallantop. The Congress posted the clip on X with the caption: “Aaj gaon, mazdoor aur kisan dukhi hai. Gaon mein achhe roads nahi hai, peene ke liye shudh pani nahi hai, achhe aspatal nahi hai, achhe schools nahi hai — Modi sarkar ke mantri Nitin Gadkari (Villages, labourers and farmers are unhappy today. Villages do not have roads, drinking water, good hospitals and schools — Nitin Gadkari, a minister in the Modi government).”
Nitin Gadkari claims sinister act by Kharge, Ramesh
Nitin Gadkari's lawyer said Kharge and Ramesh, two of the most influential leaders of the Congress, were aware of the context of the remark in which the former was trying to highlight the efforts of the Narendra Modi government in bringing about development in the country. He said the video with the Hindi caption was posted to malign Nitin Gadkari's reputation.
“My client was shocked to know, hear, and see the contents and post on the microblogging site ‘X' from your party's (Indian National Congress) official handle at 9:36 AM on March 1, 2024, on which you noticees deliberately posted 19 seconds of audio and visual clipping by concealing the contextual intent and meaning of the client's interview,” it said.
“The same sinister act has been done with sole intent and ulterior motives to fan and create confusion, sensation, and disrepute to my client in the eyes of the public at large, as well as a futile endeavour to build fissure and rift in the solidarity of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is all poised to win the trust of people in the upcoming general election under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” added the notice.
His lawyer wrote in the notice that the caption of the interview was completely false and scandalous.
“The contents of the piece of the video clip, which is devoid of contextual intent of interaction as well as a captioned Hindi title, are completely false, scandalous, factually incorrect, are completely afterthought, and are an intentional attempt by you noticees to insult and demean my client, coupled with your intent to provoke members of the Bhartiya Janata Party to develop an ideological rift with my client,” read the notice.
Nitin Gadkari demands written apology
Nitin Gadkari has demanded the removal of the video from X and a written apology within three days.
“This legal notice is calling you to remove/delete the above mentioned post from your microblogging site ‘X' forthwith and in any event, not later than 24 hours of the receipt of this legal notice, coupled with a written apology to my client within three days, failing which my client would have no other option but to take recourse to all such actions that are open to him, both civil and criminal, at your risk and expense,” it said.
