The Congress party has frequently argued that the BJP is hell-bent on undermining democracy’s fourth pillar. Party officials, particularly Rahul Gandhi, have regularly decried the lack of press freedom in Modi’s era. Last year, the dynasty-run party practically cried hoarse about India’s decline in the press freedom rankings.
However, it’s no secret that from the times of Jawaharlal Nehru to the present Sonia Gandhi era, the Congress party has been highly intolerant when it comes to accepting criticism from the press. The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has left no room for dissent and has acted strictly against the press whenever they have raised fingers against their misdeeds. One of the recent examples was how the entire Congress ecosystem went after Arnab Goswami with hundreds of FIRs and a concocted TRP scam just because he called Sonia Gandhi by her maiden name.
Just another example of this hypocrisy was on display recently when some Congress leaders took to the microblogging site Twitter to threaten the Delhi-based digital media company ScoopWhoop with legal action over some old memes of Rahul Gandhi.
In April 2015, ScoopWhoop published an article titled: “These Rahul Gandhi Memes Will Tell You Why He Needs Special Treatment”, wherein it shared some hilarious memes about the Congress leader. It’s surprising, however, that it took the Congress leaders and their supporters a little over seven years to react to the memes shared by the digital platform.
Yesterday, on October 14, seemingly out of nowhere, INC youth leader Srinivas BV slammed ScoopWhoop for those 2015 humorous memes it had published in jest about Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi. The Congress loyalist threatened to sue ScoopWhoop if those ‘malicious, false, and defamatory’ Tweets were not deleted within 24 hours with an apology on all platforms.
Without providing details of the memes that had irked him, Srinivas BV Tweeted, “We take strong notice of these malicious, false and defamatory tweets by @ScoopWhoop aimed at tarnishing the image of the leader who is exposing the govt. Calling upon you to remove these tweets in 24 hours with an apology on all platforms or legal consequences will follow.”
We take strong notice of these malicious, false and defamatory tweets by @ScoopWhoop aimed at tarnishing the image of the leader who is exposing the govt.
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) October 14, 2022
Calling upon you to remove these tweets in 24 hours with an apology on all platforms or legal consequences will follow.
Taking a cue from Srinivas, Supriya Shrinate, a former Journalist and the current national spokesperson for the Congress party, also lambasted ScoopWhoop by sharing a screenshot of one of the memes the digital media outlet had posted on their senior leader Rahul Gandhi in May 2015.
“The only one man who looks Modi and the BJP in the eye and speaks truth to power is Rahul Gandhi. Delete this tweet @ScoopWhoop and apologise. This is in very bad taste, we will be forced to pursue it legally,” Tweeted Shrinate.
The only one man who looks Modi and the BJP in the eye and speaks truth to power is Rahul Gandhi.
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) October 14, 2022
Delete this tweet @ScoopWhoop and apologise. This is in very bad taste, we will be forced to pursue it legally https://t.co/jnecWYOOnC
A Twitter user going by the handle @standon1983 was one of the first to publish screenshots of four of ScoopWhoop’s humorous Rahul Gandhi memes. The Congress sycophant seemed to be so triggered that he also brought up the sexual assault case in which the company’s CEO was accused to criticise the digital platform.
The CEO of @ScoopWhoop during the times these crap tweets were made against @RahulGandhi was @sattvikm (he is also the co-founder).
— RG for PM✋🇮🇳 (@standon1983) October 14, 2022
Fun fact: the creep recently resigned from the company after Sexual Assault complaints. #NuffSaid@Mehboobp1 @shaandelhite @MehekF @pratap_btp pic.twitter.com/AJYPaZAleA
This Twitter user’s post was most likely the tipping point for Congress leaders, who lambasted the digital media site and threatened it with legal action. This behaviour by Congress supporters in attempting to harass the media outlet is hardly surprising given that the Congress party has traditionally been extremely intolerant of criticism from the press.
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has left no room for dissent and has acted strictly against the press whenever they have raised fingers against their misdeeds. In fact, OpIndia had earlier chronicled a list of violations of press freedom committed by the Congress party.
The cycle of dictatorial tendencies that began with Jawaharlal Nehru being the country’s first Prime Minister has continued to thrive in the party’s genes even after seven decades. Perhaps the time has come for people to recognise that the Congress party’s claim to be a champion of free speech is an exaggeration, if not sheer propaganda.
