Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has served a legal notice to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and General Secretary Jairam Ramesh for allegedly disseminating misleading and defamatory content about him. The issue stems from a 19-second video clip of an interview taken by India Today Group’s Lallantop with Gadkari, which the Congress leaders are accused of sharing out of context to damage Gadkari’s reputation.
What did Nitin Gadkari actually say?
In the 19-second video shared by Congress leaders, Gadkari can be seen talking about the poor, farmers and villagers. The Union Minister said in this interview that villagers, poor, labourers and farmers are unhappy.
“Villages, poor, labourers and farmers are unhappy…The villages do not have good roads, there is no water to drink, there are no good hospitals, there are no good schools,” the Union Minister noted.
The video shared by Congress, however cut the part before this where Gadkari talks about the issue of rural-urban migration. It also cuts the part after this where he spoke of the efforts undertaken by the NDA government to improve the lives of villagers, poor, labourers and farmers.
What has the Congress been accused of?
In the notice, the Congress leaders have been accused of hiding the context and meaning of Gadkari’s interview with an “intent to create to confusion, sensation, and disrepute” to the Union Minister and also to “build fissure and rift” within the party, India Today reported.
It further said that the intent to share the clipped video from the interview was also to “build fissure and rift” within the saffron party.
The notice claims the Congress leaders “inspite of knowing the full content of my client’s interview… deliberately posted the Hindi captions and video by concealing the contextual meaning of the interaction, which is deliberate and malicious to malign the reputation of my client.”
What will happen if the Congress fails to comply with Gadkari’s legal notice?
The legal notice also demands the removal of the posts from the microblogging site within 24 hours, along with a written apology to Gadkari within three days. Failure to comply will result in Gadkari pursuing all available civil and criminal actions against the Congress leaders.
(With India Today inputs)
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