An FIR has been registered against BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya in Karnataka over his tweet that accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of complicity in a plot to destabilise India during his foreign trips.

Police have registered the FIR based on a complaint lodged by two Congress leaders — IT minister and chairman of the state party unit’s communications cell Priyank Kharge and his co-chairman Ramesh Babu — who had noted that “these actions represent a calculated effort to distort the truth, tarnish the reputation of the INC (Indian National Congress) as well as its senior leaders, and disseminate harmful, prejudicial narratives, thus creating a potential for social discord”.

Malviya had tweeted: “Rahul Gandhi is dangerous and playing an insidious game.” The June 17 tweet accompanied a 3D animated video with a voiceover, depicting “RaGa” as part of an international conspiracy to “break India”, colluding with anti-India forces to defame the country on foreign soil and bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi down, and spreading a false narrative that minorities, Dalits and Sikhs are being persecuted. The voiceover to the animated “RaGa” character picks out portions of Rahul’s addresses during his recent trip to the US without going into the context.

The FIR was registered on Tuesday. Malviya retweeted the video on Wednesday.

The FIR states: “The video alleges Shri Rahul Gandhi’s and the INC’s association with ‘international media’ as part of the plot to dismantle India, showcasing newspapers with headlines spreading the ‘anti-India narrative’ and depicting the rise of ‘Hindu Extremism’.”

“Another worrisome aspect is the animated misrepresentation of Shri Rahul Gandhi’s interaction with people of the Islamic faith. The derogatory portrayal will undoubtedly create hatred between people of different religions and propagate communal disharmony,” the FIR added.

The police registered the FIR on Tuesday, copies of which were released on Wednesday by the state Congress unit. Malviya has been charged under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between groups), 120B (criminal conspiracy) 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting ill-will or enmity between people) and 34 (common intention).

Bangalore South Lok Sabha MP and Yuva Morcha president Tejasvi Surya described the FIR as “politically motivated”.

“The FIR filed against Sri @amitmalviya is politically motivated. Plain and simple. Case is registered under 153A and 505(2) of IPC for his alleged statement against Rahul Gandhi. Both the above sections deals (sic) with promoting enmity between groups. So, what is Rahul Gandhi? An individual or a group or a class? We will challenge this in the court & ensure justice,” Surya tweeted.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla termed the FIR as “nothing but a malicious use of provisions of law to silence, intimidate”.

“At best, if Rahul Gandhi was aggrieved by any tweet, he could have filed a defamation case in court. Using the state machinery to settle scores only shows that Congress’s own communication & social media paraphernalia is supremely incompetent & hence needs a state police to fight its battles! Pathetic. See you in court,” Poonawalla tweeted.

Priyank questioned the rationale behind BJP leaders lamenting whenever they’re faced with legal action. “Whenever they face the brunt of the law, they cry foul. They have a problem with following the law of the land, they have a problem with the Constitution, and if we enforce the law or the Constitution, they seem to have a problem with it,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“I would like to ask the BJP, tell me which part of the FIR that has been lodged against Mr Malviya is with male fide intent? Who is the creator of the video? Who is the one who is spreading the video? Who is getting the video to have enough traction on social media? Who is spreading these lies?”

Priyank recalled that the Congress-run state government had recently promised to crack down on fake news and the spread of hatred. “I had promised the people of Karnataka that fake news will be reined in, and we are just doing that within legal parameters.”

The minister said the complaint was filed after seeking legal opinion. “It is just not that we have gone and filed a case and it didn’t happen within one hour. It has taken a week. We have taken legal opinion, we have taken the AG’s (advocate-general’s) opinion and whatever has to be done by law we have done it,” Priyank said.