BENGALURU: A woman entrepreneur, who had made allegations against BJP’s Tejasvi Surya on twitter, and withdrawn them later, threatened to sue Congress spokesperson Brijesh Kalappa, accusing him of violating her privacy and dignity.
The woman, now settled in the United States, demanded an apology from the Congress leader for publishing private conversations without her knowledge or permission.
The charges came minutes after Kalappa held a press conference, based on a call recording said to be a conversation between the woman and a journalist over her experiences with BJP’s Bangalore South candidate Tejasvi Surya.
Kalappa, referring to the audio clip that had been doing the rounds for three days, asked why no action had been taken against the 28-year-old MP-aspirant, despite allegations made by the woman.
“If allegations made by (name withheld) are to be believed, the entire facts were before both BJP and RSS leaders before the declaration of Surya’s nomination. If so, under the Supreme Court-directed Vishaka guidelines, what steps did BJP/RSS take?” Brijesh Kalappa had asked, pointing out that Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha was apparently in the know of things.
With the press conference, the Congress attempted to legitimise an audio clip that had gone viral. The woman in the conversation, however, took to Twitter to claim that the information being used was an invasion of her privacy, and was being manipulated for a political witch hunt.
“Stop this political witch hunt at my cost. I have already written to the women’s commission, clearly stating that I am not involved in this matter and any cases initiated on my behalf is done without my will,” she tweeted.
“Shame on Brijesh Kalappa for violating the dignity of a woman for political gains. I will soon initiate legal proceedings against him for outraging my modesty and violating my dignity. (sic),” she tweeted, to which the Congress spokesperson was quick to respond.
“You’re welcome to initiate legal proceedings. Will be happy to face it. You will, however, find it an uphill task to prove how I have violated your dignity or that of any woman for that matter. My best wishes to all your endeavours including legal action against me!! (sic)” Kalappa tweeted.
What followed was a Twitter war, with the woman demanding an apology for outraging her modesty and the Congress spokesperson adamantly denying the charge.
“Dr (name withheld), you are obviously a woman of great eminence. I respect you. This conversation has been heard by millions, having gone viral over the last 2-3 days. I had a PC only this morning. If you think I had first-hand access to this conversation, you are mistaken,” Kalappa insisted.