Frustrated by BJP’s loss in Kairana Lok Sabha bypolls, a group of BJP supporters have resorted to a dangerous game of fake propaganda in a bid to potentially causing communal riots and polarise votes ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Moments after the RLD candidate Tabassum Hassan defeated the BJP’s Mriganka Singh, the foot soldiers of BJP’s social media troll army took to Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to quote fake statements attributed to Hassan.
The viral photo, which has fake statements from Hassan, has been posted by high profile BJP supporters on social media including those followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the photo, Hassan is accused of terming Kairana’s victory as ‘Allah’s victory’ and ‘Ram’s defeat.’
One Facebook user, Kamal Tyagi, on Facebook wrote, “I am very happy today. I was hurt by our defeat in Kairana this morning. But as soon as Tabassum Begum said ‘this is Islam’s victory and defeat of Hindus’ it felt good, very very good. This is a slap to those who, in their opposition to Modi, voted for Tabassum.”
Tyagi’s cover photo on Facebook has Yogi Adityanath’s image. He has nearly 1,50,000 followers on Facebook. The fake message continues to remain on his page. Other users followed by Modi too shared the same message on Twitter.
So, is there any truth to the fake claims made by her adversaries? The newly elected MP Tabassum Hassan made it abundantly clear that this was the handiwork of those BJP supporters, who were left rattled by their party’s loss in Kairana.
Speaking to Janta Ka Reporter, the newly elected leader said, “Is there any war going on between Islam and Ram that there will be victory and defeat? This is a propaganda by those who keep such mentality. We can never say and utter bad things about other religions. What else can they (BJP supporters) do? After all they’ve had to bite the dust (in Kairana elections). They are only paving the way for me for 2019,”.
The newly elected MP also said that she was filing a police complaint against the miscreants adding that her team had traced the culprits to be members of Hindu Yuva Vahini, founded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Tabassum Hassan on Thursday had trounced her BJP’s rival Mriganka Singh to wrest the crucial Kairana Lok Sabha seat from the saffron party with a huge margin. She was being supported by all the other opposition parties including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the BSP. The fight in Kairana had become a test case for the opposition’s unity ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
Experts are unanimous that the opposition’s unity in Uttar Pradesh will spell disaster for Modi and shatter his dream to be re-elected as India’s prime minister. Hence, the desperate efforts to cause communal riots in UP, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats.