On June 27, an FIR was registered against Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma for posting alleged controversial tweets against NDA’s Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu at Hazratganj Kotwali Police Station of Lucknow under the relevant sections of Information and Technology Act, 2000. On June 22, Varma had posted a tweet, “If DRAUPADI is the PRESIDENT, who are the PANDAVAS? And more importantly, who are the KAURAVAS?” His tweet had stirred controversy and attracted a sharp reaction from the public.
In a follow-up tweet two days later, he said, “This was said just in an earnest irony and not intended in any other way. Draupadi in Mahabharata is my favourite character, but Since the name is such a rarity, I just remembered the associated characters and hence my expression. Not at all intended to hurt sentiments of anyone.”
When the controversy did not water down, the director got irked and published more satirical tweets against the Presidential candidate and BJP. On June 25, he wrote, “The TREMENDOUSNESS of this INCREDIBLE icon the EXTREMELY honourable DRAUPADI being PRESIDENT is that both PANDAVAS and KAURAVAS will forget their BATTLE and TOGETHER worship her and then MAHABHARAT will be REWRITTEN in NEW INDIA, and the WORLD will be proud of INDIA ..JAI BJP.”
On the same day, he posted another tweet saying, “Post the extensive research I did on the honourable Draupadi Ji and studying the nuances in the intensity of her eyes and the depths of both her smile and facial contours, I have no doubt that she will be the GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD..Thank u BJP.”
Earlier, a complaint was filed against him at Abid Road Police Station by G Narayan Reddy, a senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Telangana. Reddy said in his complaint that Varma’s remarks on Twitter were extremely insulting and degrading for an experienced female politician and former governor of Jharkhand. Along with the police complaint, the BJP politician provided the tweet as proof. He insisted that the SC/ST Act should be invoked by the police and that the director should get harsh punishment. The police stated that the required action would be done once a legal opinion was available.
Draupadi Murmu is NDA’s Presidential candidate
On June 21, Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) announced former Governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu‘s name as its Presidential candidate for the upcoming elections scheduled for July 18, 2022. BJP Chief JP Nadda announced Murmu’s candidature in a press conference following the board meeting. On June 24, she filed her nomination for the elections. If elected as President, Murmu will be the first Tribal leader to become President in India.
