On 23 April, 2020, Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and his wife were attacked by two bike-borne assailants about 500 mtrs from his residence in Mumbai. Gowami and his wife filed a written complaint to the NM Joshi Marg Police station naming two individuals, Arun Dilip Borade and Prateek Kumar Shyam Sunder Mishra of Mumbai who had allegedly attacked the couple. In his written complaint, Goswami mentions that the duo had confessed they were part of Yuva Congress. Soon after the attack, Congress leader Alka Lamba had hailed Yuva Congress on social media.
युवा काँग्रेस जिंदाबाद 🙂 🇮🇳👍.
— Alka Lamba – अलका लाम्बा🇮🇳 (@LambaAlka) April 22, 2020
OpIndia investigation has revealed that the two individuals named in the written complaint indeed appear to be associated with the Congress.
Arun Borade
Arun Borade, on his Facebook, which he joined in May 2011, mentions that he is President of Indian Youth Congress, Sion Koliwada Assembly block.
He has regularly shared pro-Congress posts on his Facebook page.
He also has pictures with senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier warned of ‘raktpaat’ (bloodshed) if constitution is changed and had even compared PM Modi to German dictator Adolf Hitler. The original constitution of India as it stood in 1949 and formed under the auspices of Dr Rajendra Prasad and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was amended by Congress leader and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in its 42nd amendment during the Emergency. “Sovereign Democratic Republic” was changed to add ‘secular’ and ‘socialist’ in the preamble.
Prateek Mishra
While Prateek Mishra’s Facebook profile does not specify what post he holds within the Congress, but it does show his association with the party.
On 5 February 2020, Mishra had posted a few images on Facebook along with one picture with Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and thanked a local Congress leader for giving him an opportunity to work in Sion-Koliwada constituency. He had posted a picture of himself getting appointment letter from Kharge.
Mishra also seems to be a fan of NDTV India Editor Ravish Kumar.
Police refused to add Youth Congress in FIR
Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami has alleged that the NM Joshi Marg Police officer refused to name Youth Congress in its FIR. As per the written complaint filed by Goswami, DCP Abhinash Kumar refused to name the duo as members of Youth Congress as ‘it is a matter of investigation’. “I must place on record that I had to make multiple requests in the presence of my colleagues to get an FIR registered which amounts to pure harassment from a citizen who has been subjected to assault by the ruling party in the state,” he states. Goswami also mentioned Congress leader Alka Lamba’s jubilant congratulatory message for Yuva Congress just hours after the attack.
