Police in Bengaluru have booked BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya and Republic TV boss Arnab Goswami for claiming that the Congress has an office in Istanbul.
They have been booked under Section 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and Section 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh posted on X: "We hope that the courts examine the great mischief and harm caused to the nation by the malicious actions of these two repeat and habitual offenders."
The Congress demanded strict action against Malviya and Goswami, a day after multiple complaints were filed for their defamatory posts against the party and its leader, Rahul Gandhi.
The Bengal Congress, too, has launched a two-day statewide protest against Malviya, accusing him of deliberately morphing an image of Rahul to malign him as a Pakistani sympathiser.
To register its protest, the party has started lodging FIRs against Malviya, seeking a probe, across all police stations in the state beginning Wednesday, with Congress leaders and workers taking part in a coordinated campaign to condemn the BJP "propaganda". The protest and lodging of FIRs would continue till Thursday, Congress sources said.
"This is not just an attack on Rahul Gandhi, but an attempt to brand the entire Congress as anti-national," said Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Subhankar Sarkar. "Instead of answering legitimate questions about the operation (Sindoor), the BJP has stooped to spreading hate and indulging in cheap, dirty politics."
On Tuesday, Republic TV issued a rejoinder on its reportage on the "Congress office" in Istanbul, alleging that the "Congress is with the enemies of the nation". The channel said: "An incorrect image was inadvertently used, erroneously depicting a building as the Congress office in Turkey by a video editor on the digital desk due to a technical error."
The building of a convention hall called Istanbul Congress Centre was shown in the montage of images and videos in the report on its digital platform.
Malviya had shared the video on X and written: "Did you know that the Congress party has a registered office in Turkey? Can Rahul Gandhi explain what necessitated this move? This is bizarre and inexplicable on multiple levels. India deserves to know. Remember: the enemy's friend is an enemy too."
Malviya posted on Wednesday: "The Congress is free to file as many lawsuits — but that doesn't absolve it from answering a serious question: Why did it open an office in Turkey in 2019? And why was this done just days after Turkey openly backed Pakistan at the UN on the Kashmir issue?"