RAIPUR: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Vice President and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Monday alleged that the FIR registered against him in the alleged toolkit case was done on the direction of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Addressing media here, the former chief minister said: "An FIR was filed on Sambit Patra and myself, as the Congress plan to tarnish the image of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busted. The planning... was not done through Civil Line police station but from the Congress party office."
"Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi directed Chhattisgarh CM to file an FIR against us," the BJP Vice President alleged.
"All the allegations against us will be rendered null and void when we go to court. We will definitely present before the court and share our opinion strongly. We will take this matter to court," Singh said.
The former chief minister along with BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra have been summoned in court today after an FIR was filed on May 19 against them on a complaint registered by Chhattisgarh National Students' Union of India president Akash Sharma, the student wing of the Congress.
Singh along with other party leaders on Monday held a protest outside Civil Lines Police Station here.
BJP had on May 18, slammed Congress for its "toolkit on COVID-19 pandemic".
Addressing the media BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the toolkit contains instructions for social media volunteers of Congress to call the new COVID-19 mutant as "Indian strain" or "Modi strain" against the World Health Organization (WHO)'s instructions.
Congress,however, denied the allegations and wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner seeking registration of FIR against Patra, BJP president JP Nadda, Union Minister Smriti Irani, party leader BL Santhosh and others alleging that they had shared "forged and fabricated documents with the intent to create communal disharmony and civil unrest" and to "divert attention from Modi government's failure in providing necessary aid to people amidst the current pandemic".
The complaint was made after remarks by BJP leaders on social media with the hashtag #CongressToolkitExposed in which they accused Congress of spreading "false, negative news and stirring up discontent". (ANI)