The Congress on Saturday threatened legal action against the BJP and its leaders if they did not apologise for sharing a news report based on distorted information about Rahul Gandhi.

Several BJP leaders and supporters have been accused of sharing on social media fake news shown by Zee TV that suggested Rahul had described the killers of the tailor in Udaipur as “children” and sought forgiveness for them.

Rahul was speaking in Kerala, where he described SFI supporters who had attacked his office in Wayanad as “children” and said they should be forgiven. The clip was doctored, linking his statement to the Udaipur atrocity.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera and social media head Supriya Shrinate exposed the falsehood by posting the complete video and threatened legal action, following which Zee TV removed the news item and the tweet by the anchor concerned and expressed regret.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh wrote to BJP president J.P. Nadda, saying: “If an apology is not issued today, we will take appropriate legal action against your party and its leaders who insist and persist in using the social media in such a blatantly irresponsible and criminal manner.”

Rahul did not refer to the distorted video or the demand for apology but attacked the RSS-BJP for promoting the culture of false propaganda.

He tweeted: “False propaganda and lies are the foundation of the RSS-BJP. The history of the RSS-BJP, who expect political gain by throwing the country into the inferno of hate, is known to entire India. Let these anti-nationals do whatever they want to break the country, the Congress will always strive to unite the country.”

Congress leaders have repeatedly asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the nation and appeal to the people to shun communal politics. They have alleged that the government, particularly the Prime Minister and the home minister, has not done enough to bring down the communal temperature despite tension in various parts of the country. The Congress is scheduled to launch a nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra from October 2.

Ramesh wrote to Nadda: “I am appalled to note that several of your party colleagues have been deliberately and enthusiastically sharing mischievous reportage that occurred on Zee News at 9pm yesterday (July 1st, 2022). The original video was Rahul Gandhi’s comment on the SFI violence on his Wayanad office but it was deliberately and mischievously doctored to appear as if it was a comment on the heinous murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur.

“It was immediately brought to the attention of all concerned that the reportage was false and deliberately misleading. In fact, not a single other channel has presented the clip in such a deliberately fabricated and distorted manner.”

Ramesh added: “What is of even greater concern is that several of your party colleagues, including Rajyavardhan Rathore, MP, Subrat Pathak MP, Kamlesh Saini, MLA, and others, have enthusiastically and without verification published and shared the deliberately fabricated and distorted reportage.

“Despite being cautioned by my party colleagues that the clip was maliciously false and misleading, Rathore persisted with amplifying the same, first deleting and then re-uploading the same. This leaves no doubt that his actions were deliberate and part of your party’s strategy to defame the former Congress president, to defame the Congress party and to further polarise an already sensitive, communal situation.”

Pointing out that deleting the tweets meant little as the damage had already been done, Ramesh said: “We have already initiated appropriate legal action against the original broadcaster (Zee News). We expect that you and your party colleagues will cease and desist from spreading such falsehoods. Furthermore, I expect that you will immediately issue an appropriate apology on behalf of your colleagues who have acted with such reckless disregard towards the truth.”

The Congress pointed to reports that suggested the Udaipur killers, who had murdered a tailor for allegedly supporting suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma who had made derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammed, had links with the BJP.

Khera told a news conference: “A media group has made a sensational disclosure about the link of Riyaz Attari with the local BJP leaders. We also did some research and found that the killer indeed used to attend BJP functions; photographs are available to prove this.”

Khera said: “Riyaz Attari used to attend functions of top BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria. On Facebook, links of Riyaz with BJP’s minority cell leader Irshad Chainwala and BJP worker Mohammed Tahir become clear. Tahir described Riyaz as a BJP worker in one post.”

The BJP has denied any such link, with its local leaders in Udaipur saying anybody can attend functions without being a member of the party.