Rahnuma:PIB debunks claims on MHA reaching out to Rahul, Priyanka for ending stir
New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) The Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Tuesday issued a Fact Check and declared as misleading some social media posts claiming that officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reached out to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and MP Priyanka Gandhi in a bid to end the impasse outside Nirvachan Sadan.
“Do not fall for misleading claims or unverified information. Rely only on verified sources,” said the PIB, the Central government’s nodal information dissemination agency controlled by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
The Fact Check issued by the PIB was accompanied by screenshots of social media posts by a “journalist” and a news channel’s website.
The “false claims” were made on social media in relation to the Opposition MPs’ dramatic protest and sit-in near the office of the Election Commission of India and Rahul Gandhi-led lawmakers’ failed attempt to enter Nirvachan Sadan to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi led the 300 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Opposition MPs, including those from the BJD, in a march from Parliament towards the Nirvachan Sadan – a distance of about one kilometre.
“We wanted to meet the CEC and the Election Commissioners, but we were stopped and prevented from going there,” Gandhi told reporters about 50 yards from the Commission’s office.
After being stopped by security personnel from marching towards Nirvachan Sadan, Rahul Gandhi and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders sat on a dharna inside the Akashvani Bhavan, close to the ECI office,
The protest in the high security zone was criticised by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who asked whether the opposition parties were trying to create “anarchy”.
Speaking to IANS, Prasad said, “Sitting in Delhi, they have surrounded a sensitive area here, and they are saying that (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar is under the clutches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (Home Minister) Amit Shah. This is shameful. I condemn this.”
Prasad also criticised Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for his reported demand to cancel elections and conduct them again using ballot papers.
“He had said that all elections should be cancelled and elections should be held again through ballot papers. This is their intention, and this is what they want. They cannot win in honest elections. Now, they want to capture the booths. They want to win elections under pressure. They want to stop Dalits and the poor from casting their votes. Congress has been winning like this, whether it was in Bihar, West Bengal or any other state,” he said.
–IANS
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