BJP shares Sharad Pawar speech, calls him 'Hindu hater'; NCP approaches Mumbai Police

Sharad Pawar. File Photo

An NCP youth wing leader on Friday approached the cyber cell of Mumbai police seeking action against the BJP for uploading an alleged edited version of Sharad Pawar's recent speech in order to portray him as a "Hindu hater".

The @BJP4Maharashtra on Wednesday tweeted a short video of the speech and claimed that "atheist Sharad Pawar always hated Hindu religion" and he would not have achieved his political success without taking such a stand.

However, some social media users pointed out it was an edited video and Pawar, in the speech made at an event on May 9 in Satara, was in fact referring to a poem by Jawahar Rathod that deals with casteism and untouchability.

In his complaint to the police, Suraj Chavan, president of the state unit of the NCP's youth wing, said, "An attempt was made to create a divide in communities and cause law and order problems by sharing such a tempered video on Twitter. Action must be taken against the Twitter handle (of the BJP) as per sections 499, 500, 66A and 66F."

Pawar had told reporters on Thursday that he was reading out lines from a poem that depicts the pain of the labour class, but went to take a swipe at the BJP by saying those who wanted to spread disinformation were free to do so.