FIR lodged after JMM, Cong complain to EC against BJP video: ‘How far will you allow country to fall in name of Hindu-Muslim?’

Earlier in the evening, Kumar told The Indian Express that on directions from the poll panel police have registered an FIR.

The JMM was the first to flag the video. An hour after the state BJP posted the video Saturday night, the JMM’s official X handle tagged the EC and wrote: “Will elections be held like this in the country now? How far will you allow the country to fall in the name of Hindus and Muslims? Now have some shame and wake up. Show me some courage. Today BJP has crossed all limits of shamelessness and vulgarity.”

The video shows a large group of people, including women and children, from a particular community entering the residence of a JMM supporter, and forcefully staying there. A post with the video said: “Look carefully at how big a mistake a wrong vote can become. So don’t make the same mistake this time as in 2019. Choose the right thing, choose BJP.”

In the ongoing elections, the BJP has pitched infiltration and illegal settlers from Bangladesh as a major campaign theme in Jharkhand, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as other top leaders raising the issue at their rallies.

Reacting to the video, Chief Minister Hemant Soren told The Indian Express: “The mask has been lifted. The BJP is openly ruining the future of the country purely on politics of hatred and fear mongering and the Election Commission has sadly been turned into a helpless and mute spectator. It is now clear that the BJP has zero intellectual capital and has run out of actual issues.”

While the JMM wrote to state Chief Electoral Officer Kumar against the video, Congress general secretary in charge for communication Jairam Ramesh submitted a memorandum to the poll panel in Delhi, seeking orders to delete the video and registration of an FIR.

In its memorandum to the EC, the Congress said, “The content of the video uploaded by the BJP directly invokes religious identity as a call/appeal for votes; in complete violation of the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”

Urging the EC to take strict action against the BJP “to ensure that a political party, despite their status, is not emboldened to carry out election campaigns” outside the scope “electoral norms of conduct and electoral laws”, the Congress sought deletion of “all communal, divisive and malicious videos” from the BJP’s social media accounts.

The BJP said the video merely reflects the JMM-Congress mindset. “On June 2, 2023, the Special Branch of the Jharkhand Police issued a letter to all District Commissioners, cautioning against Bangladeshi infiltrators entering Jharkhand through madrasas. However, one year later, the Hemant government outrightly denied any such infiltration,” BJP spokesperson Ajay Shah said.

“These incidents, along with a statement from the Congress state in-charge openly promising free cylinders to infiltrators and the Congress’s pledge to promote madrasas, suggest that the JMM-INC alliance has been actively working to settle Bangladeshi infiltrators to expand their vote bank for political gain. The advertisement (video) merely reflects the mindset of the JMM-Congress,” he said.

In the evening, Arvind Anand, Principal Secretary at the Election Commission of India, in a communication to state Chief Electoral Officer Kumar wrote: “On perusal of the complaint, it appears that the above referred social media post is prima facie violative of the MCC. It is therefore directed to take immediate action as per existing laws and procedures.”

The communication also directed Kumar to serve a notice on Jharkhand BJP to “explain the alleged violation of provisions of MCC by the party on account of their referred directed to social media posts”.

“The party may be directed immediately take down the said post… and any related content from social media and any other form of media,” it said.

Speaking to The Indian Express earlier in the evening, Kumar said an FIR was registered at the cyber crime police station under relevant sections for violation of the MCC. “A takedown request of the video has been sent to X and we are awaiting action,” he said.