Probe BJP's cyber propaganda, Congress tells police

The Congress's Maharashtra unit Friday lodged a police complaint objecting to what it alleged BJP's attempts "to poison minds using cyberspace", a party leader said.

The party has charged the Bharatiya Janata Party and its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi with dragging the election campaign "to its lowest levels" after realizing there is no "Modi wave" in the country.

State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, who lodged the complaint with Mumbai Police Cyber Cell, said that Modi supporters are using the cyberspace and social media networks "to spread false and derogatory messages" primarily against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and vice president Rahul Gandhi.

"Websites have been created to spread false and defamatory material against Congress and Sonia Gandhi with an aim of showing her in bad light. The material posted on these sites is derogatory to the status of a woman and reflects the mindset of BJP, Narendra Modi and RSS," alleged Sawant.

He further alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is known to poison the minds of the people, especially those who belong to an impressionable age.

"In their eagerness to win the elections, they have lost whatever sense of morality they had and have stopped to the level of maligning Mahatma Gandhi. The violence in their thinking is also reflected in one of the websites which justifies his (Gandhiji's) assassination," Sawant said.

In his complaint, he has urged the Cyber Cell to probe the matter and intiaite suitable action including under the Information Technology Act.