Rajasthan Congress leader files petition against JP Nadda, Amit Malviya over BJP’s poster showing Rahul Gandhi as ‘Ravan’

financialexpress.com:

A Congress leader from Rajasthan has filed a petition in a court against BJP national president JP Nadda and party’s IT cell head Amit Malviya over a social media post by the BJP depicting Rahul Gandhi as “a modern-day Ravan”, reports PTI.

Jaswant Gurjar, the general secretary of the Congress’ Rajasthan unit, appealed in his petition that both BJP leaders be charged under IPC Sections 499 (making false accusations against someone), 500 (defamation), and 504 (intentional insult).

The petition was submitted to Jaipur Metropolitan Court-11, which has scheduled a hearing for October 9.

A controversial poster posted on the official X account of the BJP depicted Gandhi as ‘Ravan’ (demon king in Hindu mythology Ramayana), prompting strong criticism from the Congress, which labelled it “unacceptable” and “highly dangerous”. The poster showed Gandhi with multiple heads and carried the tagline “Bharat Khatre Mein Hai – A Congress party production. Directed by George Soros.”

The reference to George Soros, a Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist, and activist, stemmed from his critical remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi following a report by Hindenburg Research on the Adani Group.

The caption of the post by BJP read, “The new-age Ravan is here. He is evil. Anti-Dharma. Anti-Ram. His aim is to destroy Bharat.”

The petition contends that the accused purposely shared the post on October 5 with malicious intent, aiming to insult and damage Congress’s reputation and its associated individuals for political advantage.

It further states that the BJP leaders deliberately portrayed Gandhi as being opposed to Ram and religion to incite public sentiment against him. The petitioner urged the court to record statements from