LUCKNOW: An FIR was lodged against Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Rai in Mahoba district on Saturday for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The FIR was based on the police complaint by the BJP’s district executive member Neeraj Rawat. Rai and 30 of his unidentified accomplices have been named in the FIR.
The UPCC chief was accused of spreading enmity, accumulating a crowd without administration’s permission, obstructing government work and creating a road blockade.
Significantly, Rai’s remarks escalated a war of words between the BJP and the Congress. The alleged abusive words used by Rai against Modi drew strong reaction from the BJP camp, including UP CM Yogi Adityanath and the entire BJP leadership after a purported video of Rai went viral on social media platforms.
While the UPCC chief called it a fake video, accusing the BJP camp of fabricating it and claiming that he would lodge a police complaint in that connection, CM Yogi attributed the abusive language to Rai’s mental bankruptcy, reflecting his party’s frustration after facing back-to-back electoral defeats.
In a post on X, Yogi said the comments made against the PM reflected the “political misconduct and poor culture” of the Congress. Rai’s indecent, unparliamentary and inexcusable remarks against PM expose the political values of Congress,” wrote the UP CM. Targeting the Congress leadership further, he said that even the party’s “Yuvraj” (read: Rahul Gandhi) had previously displayed similar political behaviour.
“Congress has now reached the highest level of despair, frustration, and mental bankruptcy. They are no longer even in a position to apologise to the people of the country,” he added. The remarks came amid escalating political confrontation between the BJP and Congress after Rai’s recent comment on the Prime Minister.