Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has taken legal steps against two senior Congress leaders, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh, for disseminating an ‘out of context’ clip from one of his interviews. Gadkari’s counsel, Balendu Shekhar, expressed dismay at the content that the Congress shared on social media, which he said aimed to sully Gadkari’s image. A legal notice was sent demanding the deletion of a 19-second video clip, which Gadkari asserts misrepresented his words and was an attempt by the Congress to incite an ideological rift within the BJP and against him personally.
The contested video was disseminated by the Congress showing Gadkari seemingly criticizing the lack of infrastructure in rural areas. Claiming that only a fragment of his complete statement was shared, Gadkari contends that his comments about the significant efforts and positive outcomes achieved by the government were conveniently left out. The legal notice underlined that the Congress purposefully used a Hindi caption to malign his statements and instructed the leaders to remove the misleading post and issue a written apology within stipulated timelines, failing which Gadkari warns of civil and criminal consequences.
The issue has heated up as the BJP prepares for the upcoming elections under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, with Gadkari strongly denying the implications of the edited clip. Despite Congress not having responded to the notice yet, the matter highlights the tension between the two major political parties and the use of media clips in political rivalry. Gadkari’s actions underscore the legal boundaries sought to be maintained over information shared publicly by political figures and parties.