Jashpur/Raipur, July 7: Chhattisgarh police have lodged an FIR against BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy following a complaint that he allegedly made a false statement against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, police said Sunday.

Based on a complaint of Jashpur district Congress president Pawan Agrawal, the First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Patthalgaon police station on Saturday night, Jashpur Superintendent of Police Shankar Lal Baghel told PTI.

In his written complaint, Agrawal said Swamy alleged that Rahul Gandhi takes cocaine, and added that the BJP leader has no right and facts to make such a statement.

"Swamy himself knows that his statement was false and intentional to insult Rahul Gandhiji. Swamy knows that his statement can encourage enmity between political parties and provoke people. Such a statement can disturb peace among people," he said in the complaint.

The case has been registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 504 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace), 505(2) (intent to incite any class or community of a person) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment), the SP said.

Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said, "Swamy's statement is unacceptable and highly condemnable. It has disrespected Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party in the state and all over the country. He has no moral and legal right to make such a false statement." 

Various wings of the Congress, including the Youth Congress, Women's Congress and the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) in the state have been filing complaint against Swamy at police stations in all the districts and development block headquarters since Saturday night, he said.

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New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said the use of "abusive" language by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is "utterly shameful" and added Prime Minister Narendra Modi must clarify whether he endorses this "insult".

Sarma had triggered a row on Tuesday when he hit out at Kharge, saying that he was "speaking like a mad man" due to old age, after the latter put the onus on central agencies to probe the charges made against the Assam chief minister.

In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "The kind of abusive and derogatory language used by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma against the Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, is utterly shameful and unacceptable."

She said Kharge is one of the most senior leaders in the country and serves as an enlightened representative not only of the Congress party but also of the Dalits and the marginalised sections of the nation.

"By insulting him, the BJP chief minister has insulted crores of people across the country," she said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi must clarify to the nation: does he endorse this insult directed at crores of Indians?" she said.

The Congress on Tuesday accused Sarma of insulting party chief Kharge and demanded an unconditional apology from him for his "deplorable conduct" that it alleged reflects the "anti-Dalit mindset" of the BJP.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday had said the use of "derogatory language" against party chief Mallikarjun Kharge by Sarma was an insult to the entire SC/ST community, and the silence of Prime Minister Modi on the matter "is not his helplessness, but his consent".

"If the prime minister sees an attack on the dignity of crores of Dalits in the country and does not speak up - he is not only shirking his responsibility, but is also a party to that insult," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

Gandhi said the use of "vulgar and derogatory language" by Sarma against Kharge "is entirely condemnable, shameful, and unacceptable".

"Kharge ji is a senior and popular Dalit leader of the country - his experience, stature, and prestige are unparalleled. Insulting him is not an insult to one individual alone, but also to crores of people from the SC-ST community in this country," he posted.

This, he said, just reflected the "old and premeditated mindset" of the BJP-RSS and was nothing new.

"Whether it is the insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar, belittling Dalit leaders, or personal attacks on representatives of the SC-ST community - the history of BJP and RSS bears witness that whenever a Dalit leader speaks the truth, they stoop to humiliate him," Gandhi said.

"This is their ideology, this is their true character and face," he added.

Posing a direct question to the prime minister, he asked, "Do you support Himanta Sarma's use of this language? Your silence is not helplessness, it is consent."