Congress MLA Jitu Patwari booked for tweeting morphed image of PM Modi

2014 In 2014, his first birthday as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi visited Gandhinagar to seek blessings from his mother Heeraben. Reports said Modi travelled alone in a normal vehicle from Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar on his 64rth birthday. His mother donated Rs 5,000 for the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion. Later in the day, Modi hosted a special dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping in Ahmedabad.

A case has been registered against Jitu Patwari, Congress MLA and president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress media cell, for allegedly tampering with a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the picture posted by Patwari, the PM is seen wearing a mask and holding a bowl during the Ram Temple bhoomi pujan ceremony in Ayodhya on August 5.

A complaint has been lodged by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the Indore police in the matter claiming that the distorted image hurts the dignity of the PM as well as religious sentiments of Hindus, reported PTI.

The uploaded image was accompanied with a tweet in Hindi which translates to, "The country's economy, business and income, declining economic status of farmers, jobs and unemployment, decline of economy, labourers and their struggle. These are not subjects of television debate. Because, (we) will walk with the bowl."

Chhatripura police station in-charge Pawan Singhal said Patwari was booked under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 464 (making false electronic record) of IPC on the complaint of city BJP president Gaurav Randive, added PTI.

Singhal said, at first glance, it seems the image uploaded on Patwari's Twitter handle was a "tampered" one, adding that section 188 of IPC was invoked as the district administration had already banned provocative social media posts.

While Patwari, MLA from Rau and higher education minister in the previous Kamal Nath government, deleted the image later, it didn't stop BJP leaders from ridiculing him for spelling errors in his Hindi tweet.

BJP leaders said the Congress had made someone like Patwari, who can't get Hindi spellings right, as state higher education minister.