Katihar (Bihar) [India], August 23 : Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders in Bihar have strongly criticised the filing of an FIR against party leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in Maharashtra, calling it politically motivated and an attempt to suppress opposition voices.
An FIR has been registered against Tejashwi Yadav in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli over an alleged objectionable post and defamatory content against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social media platform X.
Speaking in Katihar, RJD leader Sanjay Yadav questioned the grounds of the FIR, arguing that Tejashwi was only reminding people of unfulfilled promises made by the BJP.
"What kind of words did he (Tejashwi Yadav) use? Who promised to give Rs 15 lakh in every citizen's bank account? Who promised to deliver 2 crore jobs every year? Who promised to give a special package and special status to Bihar? Who promised to develop Bihar?... If reminding him about his promises to Bihar, you should file an FIR in every district of the country... Why file an FIR by just one MLA?" Sanjay Yadav said.
Echoing the sentiment, RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav accused the ruling BJP of double standards.
"Did the Election Commission take any action or file an FIR against PM Modi for hate speech... However, this does happen with opposition people frequently. But who is scared of this? When the government becomes fearful of the anger of the common people, it will seek support from the court and police. But we will not be scared of this. We will challenge them face-to-face. PM Modi is so scared of this," he remarked.
Milind Ramji Narote, a BJP MLA from Maharashtra's Gadchiroli, had filed a complaint against Tejashwi Yadav on Friday.
The FIR has been registered at Gadchiroli Police Station under 196(1)(a)(b), 356(2)(3), 352, 353(2) sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to the FIR copy, the alleged objectionable posts were made against Prime Minister Modi's visit to Gaya Ji district of Bihar on Friday, where he had inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various development projects worth Rs 13000 crores for the state.
However, Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday affirmed that he is "not scared" of any FIR. He asked if saying the word "jumla" has become a crime and alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fearing the truth.
Speaking to reporters in Katihar, Yadav said, "Who is scared of an FIR? Saying the word 'jumla' has also become a crime... They fear the truth... We are not scared of any FIR and we speak the truth..."