BJP K'taka Twitter Handle That Called Journalist 'Jihadi', Taken Down For Communal Views

Twitter has blocked the social media handle of BJP's Karnataka unit for tweeting on people with "liberal views", the Bhartiya Janta Party said on Wednesday, February 12.

"It is unfortunate that our handle was locked out by Twitter for speaking the truth about liberals," tweeted BJP, vowing that it will not step back in its efforts to bring out the truth in the public domain.

"A big thanks for your support and encouragement. Satymeva Jayate. Jai Hind," the party wrote on Twitter.

On February 7, the party's official twitter handle faced a lot of flak for mocking a phrase used by anti-citizenship law protesters and triggering a controversy. The Karnataka unit of BJP had tweeted a clip of Muslim women showing their voter identity cards outside a polling booth in the national capital, with the caption "keep the documents safe" for the NPR exercise.

This came in contrast to PM Narendra Modi's constant claims that documents would not be compulsory during the National Population Register (NPR) process.

After BJP's state unit shared the video with a sarcastic caption, several netizens pointed out the contradiction between the stated assurances from the party and the tweet.

In response to the tweet, journalist Rana Ayyub, slammed the BJP for their "direct threat to Muslims", adding that it was a proof of "Narendra Modi's agenda to reduce Muslims to second class citizens".

Hitting back at her, BJP Karnataka wrote: "Relax, Miss Journalist? Since when did asking people to keep their documents safe become a Threat? Issuing threats is a norm in your Jihadi World, not in our Hindutva Bharat. Muslims may be second class Citizens for you, but for PM Modi they are Indians. Bharat Mata Ki Jai."

The tweet was later taken down.

This was not the first time that the party's twitter handle sparked a row with its controversial tweets.

Recently, the party had tweeted about an Amazon delivery receipt for razors that it allegedly sent to Omar Abdullah after his unshaven face's pictures went viral. The tweet was later taken down.

The BJP's Karnataka unit also drew massive criticism for posting a controversial tweet on shooting incident outside Jamia Millia Islamia that injured a Kashmiri student.

The tweet labelled the gunman who opened fire on anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters in the national capital as a 'reaction' to anti-CAA activist Sharjeel Imam's controversial speeches. The party was later forced to delete the controversial tweet.

The time period for which Twitter has blocked the account is not specified. The party, however, took to Twitter on Monday, February 10, to lash out at Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde and Vijay Bahuguna for "cheating" Dalits.

"In 2012, Congress was in power at the Centre and Uttarakhand. These were responsible for the Supreme Court's decision to remove reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in government jobs and promotions," the handle tweeted.

Reacting to the Delhi Assembly polls results, the party tweeted that there is no need to lose heart. "Now is the time to go back to voters to win their hearts and minds. Let us plan for 2025 from today. We are with you," Karnataka BJP tweeted on Wednesday, February 12.

Also Read: 'Keep Documents Safe, You Will Need To Show Them Again': BJP K'taka Tweets To Muslim Voters