The Congress unit in Karnataka on Thursday lodged a police complaint against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP leaders and organisers of public rallies in connection with making provocative statements, promoting enmity, hatred and ill will between different communities.
The complaint has been lodged with High Grounds police in Bengaluru.
Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar, state In-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala and AICC Spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh personally went to the police station and lodged the complaint.
They demanded that an FIR should be filed against the Union Minister for threatening voters of the state by stating that if Congress is voted to power, there will be incidents of violence.
The complaint mentioned that deliberate and knowingly false statements are made, threatening electors to vote in favour of the BJP and maligning the principal opposition party Congress.
The party has sought an FIR under the IPC and the Representation of People Act 1951.
The provocative statements were made during public rallies on April 25 in Vijayapura and other locations.
The complaint says the speech given by Shah was shockingly riddled with flagrantly false statements aimed at tarnishing the image of the Congress by leveling false and unfounded allegations, with a clear objective of trying to create an atmosphere of communal disharmony amongst the gathered crowd and the individuals viewing it on other media platforms.
Shah knowingly raised several false and communal allegations against the INC and its senior leaders with the clear intent of disrupting the communal harmony maintained in the entire State of Karnataka, the complaint said.
The Union Minister stated that Siddaramaiah had released all PFI workers who had earlier been kept in custody, and it was the BJP government who later had to locate and jail them again.
The Congress has given an election promise that if it is elected to form the Government in Karnataka, then it shall lift the ban issued against PFI.
In addition to the above, and more worryingly coming from the Union Home Minister himself, was the statement that if the Congress wins the upcoming elections, then the entire state of Karnataka will be “afflicted with communal riots”.
The statements made by Amit Shah are designed to incite any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community, and are thereby punishable under Section 505 of the IPC and other provisions of the IPC.
The statements indirectly threaten and try to mislead electors into voting for a particular political party and candidate, thereby being punishable under Section 123 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.
The facts brought out above are clear and unequivocal, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind about the commission of grave and serious offences by AAmit Shah, Union Home Minister and Star Campaigner of the BJP along with others.
“We therefore request that an urgent and immediate FIR should be lodged against Amit Shah and the other individuals, ” stated Surjewala. — IANS