Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday threatened to take legal action after JNU students rights activist Shehla Rashid accused him of plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Using the hashtag RajivGandhiStyle, Shehla posted on Twitter on Saturday: “Looks like RSS/Gadkari is planning to assassinate Modi, and then blame it upon Muslims/Communists and then lynch Muslims.”
Looks like RSS/Gadkari is planning to assassinate Modi, and then blame it upon Muslims/Communists and then lynch Muslims #RajivGandhiStyle
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) June 9, 2018
In an apparent response to her tweet, the Union minister for road transport and highways wrote that he would be taking legal action against “anti-social elements” who made “bizzare comments”, without actually naming Rashid.
“I would be taking legal action on anti-social elements who have made bizzare comments; attributing personal motives to me, regarding the assassination threat to PM @narendramodi,” Nitin Gadkari tweeted.
I would be taking legal action on anti-social elements who have made bizzare comments; attributing personal motives to me, regarding the assassination threat to PM @narendramodi
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) June 9, 2018
Responding to the threat, Rashid hit back at Gadkari saying he was getting worked up over a sarcastic tweet as she asked him to think about what JNU leader Umar Khalid might be going through “after a baseless media assault on him and his father”.
“Leader of world’s biggest party gets worked up about a sarcastic tweet. Imagine what an innocent student @UmarKhalidJNU must be going through after a baseless media assault on him & his father by Times Now.
Mr. Gadkari, will you also take action against Rahul Shivshankar?,” she tweeted.
Leader of world’s biggest party gets worked up about a sarcastic tweet. Imagine what an innocent student @UmarKhalidJNU must be going through after a baseless media assault on him & his father by Times Now.
Mr. Gadkari, will you also take action against Rahul Shivshankar? https://t.co/tNDZLrqOKV
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) June 9, 2018
The heated exchange of words between Rashid and Gadkari comes in the context of a letter that purportedly carried details of plans of a ‘Rajiv Gandhi type incident’ to target PM Modi. The letter was allegedly written by Maoists.
TV news channel Times Now revealed another letter elaborating on an ‘urban Naxal’ nexus involving JNU leader Umar Khalid, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and their “friends in Congress”.
JNU student leader Umar Khalid has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police, alleging that he had received death threats from a man who identified himself as fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari, a senior official said on Saturday.
On Friday, Khalid approached the police with a complaint over the threats and a case was registered, a police officer said, adding that they were investigating the matter.