Congress insulted SC community, Ankita Bhandari: BJP on video row

Dehradun, Dec 24 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of insulting the Scheduled Caste community and Ankita Bhandari, a receptionist who was murdered in 2022 by her employer, over allegations by the party of involvement of a BJP leader.

Uttarakhand BJP unit president told reporters that the Congress was deliberately trying to defame BJP leaders based on unverified allegations from suspicious individuals.

He said that the state Congress president and other party leaders were engaging in shameful politics using the audio-video of a woman involved in suspicious social activities.

"On one hand, they are insulting a very respected BJP leader and the Scheduled Caste community by using unverified AI-generated viral audio for political gain, while on the other hand, they are continuously insulting Ankita's soul by making false allegations since her death," Bhatt, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said.

Bhatt said that since Ankita's murder, the Congress has been pursuing "vulture-like" politics, continuously making false, baseless, insensitive, and immoral allegations, even though the court has already sentenced the culprits to life imprisonment.

The issue-less, thoughtless, and uncultured Congress party has now resorted to despicable politics, he said.

At the heart of the latest row between the two parties is a video in which a woman claims to be the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, who was expelled from the party, and alleges the involvement of a "VIP" politician in the Ankita murder case.

The Congress has demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter since the emergence of the video on social media.

Asked about former chief minister Harish Rawat's announcement of visiting the BJP headquarters, Bhatt said that if he comes with a pure heart, the party will welcome him.

Rawat has filed a police complaint alleging that the BJP's official handle is spreading misinformation against him through an AI-generated video, and has announced a protest outside the BJP state headquarters here on Thursday.

Bhatt said that the video was not made by him. PTI DPT VN VN