FIR against Sonia Gandhi in Karnataka over tweets questioning PM-CARES Fund, Congress calls it 'vendetta politics'

New Delhi: An FIR has been lodged against interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over tweets from party’s official Twitter handle questioning Prime Minister Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency (PM-CARES) Fund.

According to reports, the FIR against Gandhi has been lodged on the basis of a complaint made by an advocate, KV Praveen, from Karnataka`s Shivamogga district in protest against the tweets from the party`s Twitter handle against PM CARES Fund).

"An FIR has been registered against Sonia Gandhi under IPC Section 153, 505 (1)(B) for the tweets against PM CARES FUND," a senior police official confirming the development, according to PTI.

In his complaint, KV Praveen has said that the tweets alleged money is not being accounted for from the PM CARES FUND and others and attempts were being made to create distrust among the masses by spreading "baseless charges."

However, the Congress central leadership has accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in vendetta politics after the FIR was registered in Karnataka against Sonia Gandhi for raising questions over the PM-CARES fund. 

The party also hit out at the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that was it playing dirty politics by registering a case against the party's state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and arresting him twice on Wednesday. 

The state unit of the party also submitted a letter in this regard to Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa urging him to withdraw the FIR lodged against Gandhi. It was signed by KPCC chief DK Shivakumar. 

The party also urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to review his decision.

"It is extremely unfortunate that at a time like this, when the world is facing a disaster like coronavirus and where in India crores of people have lost their livelihood and are forced to walk home, instead of helping them and providing for them all that you (BJP) want to do is vendetta politics.’’

"You are not just misusing government machinery, you are also inciting vendetta politics. We strongly condemn this," Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said at a press conference held through video conferencing on Thursday.

Shrinate said it was not just about the FIR against Sonia Gandhi, "this gives us an insight into how the BJP and Modi operates". "Even at a time like this, what is important for them is vendetta politics. This is a democracy and in a democracy opposition leaders have a basic right to ask questions," she said.

Shrinate said this was a not a question on the state of affairs, but on the PM-CARES Fund, where thousands of crores have been deposited and even with so much funds available why migrants are still forced to walk and why are people still suffering.

"Why can this money not be released... Every Indian wants to ask this question," she said.