Fact Check: BJP Tweets Fake Letter Accusing Congress Of Dividing Hindu Communities In Karnataka

The campaigning for garnering votes during these elections are morally stooping low on each passing day. On April 16, the Bharatiya Janata Party of Karnataka on its official Twitter handle posted a fake letter which stated that the Congress “wanted to divide Hindu communities in Karnataka” to gain votes.

The letter was allegedly written by the state Home Minister MB Patil and was sent to the former Indian Congress President, Sonia Gandhi. Interestingly, the same letter was circulated in 2018 over WhatsApp just before the state of Karnataka was heading for the state elections. The letter quotes Patil saying the Congress will only win if they divide Hindus and subsequently uniting Christians and Muslims.

Congress exposed

The entire Lingayat & Veerashaiva community division was planted under direct instruction of Sonia Gandhi

The letter written to Sonia Gandhi by Congress leader MB Patil exposes shocking details of how Sonia Gandhi wanted to divide Hindu communities in Karnataka pic.twitter.com/ZC6CpQf1fN

— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) April 16, 2019

Story shared on Karnataka’s BJP Twitter handle

The BJP Karnataka posted the letter on Twitter with a caption “Congress exposed. The entire Lingayat & Veerashaiva community division was planted under the direct instruction of Sonia Gandhi. The letter written to Sonia Gandhi by Congress leader MB Patil exposes shocking details of how Sonia Gandhi wanted to divide Hindu communities in Karnataka”, just after a Kannada daily, Vijayavani carried out a story based on the fake letter with images of Sonia Gandhi and MB Patil with a title – “Again a different fire lit by MB Patil”. The story was published on page 2. The Twitter handle also carried a screenshot of the web article.

The fake news buster, Boom Live has previously debunked the fake letter when it was posted by ‘Postcard News’ on their websites. However, later on, they (Post Card) took off the post. Boom Live had also found that “Global Christian Council” and “World Islamic Organisation” which were mentioned in the letter did not exist. Another BoomLive check revealed that when Vijayavani editor was told about the same, in reference to the article published them which named organisations which did not even exist, the editor Channegowda KN said, “It is not our duty to check whether such organisations exist or no.” Notably, Vijayavani was launched by Vijay Sankeshwar in 2012. Sankeshwar was previously a BJP MP from Dharwad (North) constituency.

Congress has now filed a complaint with the chief electoral officer against the BJP.

This letter is FAKE

I will be initiating legal action for forgery against those who produced and published it.

BJP's desperation is evident. They are wholly relying on fake letters because they have lost the support of people. pic.twitter.com/yrPRHGTVcW

— M B Patil (@MBPatil) April 16, 2019

What is inside the letter

The letter explains a strategy of gaining more votes in favour of the Congress by uniting the Muslims and Christians on the basis of their faith and divide the Hindus on the basis of caste/sub-caste and sect and sub/sect. It further stated that the party should take advantage of the difference between Veerashaiva-Lingayat community. Patil had earlier told Boom Live that he was disgruntled to see such a letter. He further explains the possibilities said that someone should have scanned a copy of the letterhead of the organisation (BLDEA) and his signature.

Also Read: Letter By Armed Forces Veterans To The President: Fake Or Not?