Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday took to Twitter to ‘warn’ people from media against using ‘abusive’ terms to describe senior Congress leader and son of party president Rahul Gandhi.
https://twitter.com/bhupeshbaghel/status/1442926434524151808?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwBaghel tweeted, ‘Listen up, Rahul Gandhi is the main leader of the opposition. Congress workers will not tolerate ‘abusive’ words against him. We respect every media house which is being a responsible fourth pillar of democracy. But do not forget your limits.’
While Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP, is indeed one of the leaders of opposition, he is neither the party president (his mother is) nor is he the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
This, however, did not go down too well with netizens who did not take such threatening messages too kindly.
https://twitter.com/TajinderBagga/status/1443062507061514240?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwBJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga questioned whether Baghel is a chief minister or a goonda. He reminded that similar language used by Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s assassination led to killing of thousands of Sikhs.
https://twitter.com/BefittingFacts/status/1442934171974832130?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwOther Twitter user pointed out that Baghel is tweeting for ‘Pappu’, a nickname given to Rahul Gandhi by many, at midnight. “If you’d have given this much attention to your state, you would not have to tender your resignation,” he added. Chhattisgarh, too, is currently facing political upheavals as various Congress factions are fighting amongst themselves.
https://twitter.com/Smokingskills07/status/1443061477858963457?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwOne Twitter user, paying no heed to the warning said that Rahul Gandhi is a donkey and dared Baghel to initiate action against him.
https://twitter.com/swati_gs/status/1443073175223291905?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwSwarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma pointed out how this kind of threat was just one step away from ‘sar tan se juda’, a slogan changed by Islamists who give a call for beheading on allegations of blasphemy.
It seems the trigger for such a reaction was a show on Times Now by Navika Kumar where she was discussing the Punjab political crisis. “… want my vacation and I’ll go for vacation. And the day he returns, bl**dy… I’m sorry, sorry, on the day he returns Punjab is in the headlines…” she said.
https://twitter.com/GauravPandhi/status/1442921983214178304?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwCongress leaders then took to Twitter to trend ‘Kachra Navika’ and hurled choicest abuses towards her for saying ‘bloody’ on air in a sentence that also included Rahul Gandhi.
https://twitter.com/HasibaAmin/status/1442936082694172675?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwNavika Kumar later took to social media to apologise for her momentary lapse in flow of conversation and using an ‘unparliamentary word’ on air.
https://twitter.com/navikakumar/status/1442931357483626496?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwShe mentioned how she had immediately apologised for using the word as well. However, despite that, Congress workers, leaders and supporters were not satisfied. They demanded her to be taken off air.
https://twitter.com/minicnair/status/1443038057528061956?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Some even demanded she releases a video apology and promises never to ‘repeat this insanity’ ever again against Rahul Gandhi. https://twitter.com/SaurabhRaii_/status/1442936957235957762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/GauravPandhi/status/1442935770763837441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Apparently nothing short of on-air apology will work for Congressis.It must be noted that Congress-friendly media houses as well as Editors’ Guild of India and other media organisations have not yet commented on Baghel’s threat to media houses.