B'deshi journo, Indian woman booked for spreading fake news against Sonia, Rahul Gandhi
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered by the Bengaluru Police against a Bangladeshi journalist and a woman staffer of an Indian news portal for allegedly spreading fake news and misinformation about Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, both senior Congress leaders.
The case was registered at the High Grounds police station against the journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhaury and Aditi - working with the news portal, for sharing his claims on its social media handle, they said.
According to the complainant Srinivas G, associated with the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), the Bangladeshi journalist allegedly shared a post on his X handle linking Sonia Gandhi to a foreign spy agency.
He alleged Choudhary did so with an intention to malign the public image of the Gandhi family and that the journalist had shared such a post to create enmity between two religions.
Srinivas charged Choudhury with having made certain claims about Rahul Gandhi.
"Based on the complaint we received, we have filed an FIR against the two for allegedly spreading misinformation about the Gandhi family. Case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and 353 (2) (publishing or circulating false information to create hatred on the basis of religion etc)," a senior police officer said.
An investigation is underway and accordingly action will be taken in the case, he said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
