Bengaluru, 27 Dec

The Karnataka BJP on Friday targeted state IT and BT Minister Priyank Kharge, accusing him of spreading fake news by circulating a “malicious AI-generated image” to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi and allegedly mislead the public over a court order related to the 2017 Unnao rape case.

The BJP also alleged that Kharge mocked the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ initiative and demanded an unconditional apology from him. Kharge has since deleted the post containing the image in question.

Responding to the controversy, Kharge said that while the image may have been AI-generated  and was shared due to an inadvertent oversight, “your reputation precedes you, @BJP4Karnataka”.

The issue surfaced after the Delhi High Court recently suspended the jail term of expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who is serving a life sentence in the Unnao rape case, noting that he has already completed seven years and five months in prison.

The Karnataka BJP claimed that the self-proclaimed “fact-checker” Kharge was caught spreading misinformation. “Despite holding the IT & BT portfolio, he circulated a malicious, AI-generated image to attack PM @narendramodi and mislead the public about a court order,” the party said.

“He shamefully mocked the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ initiative -- a crucial scheme for empowering India’s daughters -- using lies to twist its meaning for cheap politics,” the BJP alleged further.

The party also accused Kharge of ignoring facts, stating that the relief granted to Sengar was a judicial order, which the CBI has challenged, and not a decision taken by the government. “His (Kharge) post violates his own government's Hate Speech Bill by using communal imagery to ridicule a judicial process. Instead of upholding the truth, Priyank Kharge resorts to lies and communal incitement. We demand an unconditional apology and immediate legal action against this misinformation,” the state BJP said in a post.

Hitting back, Kharge accused the BJP of continuing to shield offenders. “The larger issue remains: the BJP continues to honour and shield perpetrators. Why has no action been taken against the POCSO accused in Karnataka? And why is this leader still projected as a mentor and a ‘guiding light’ for your party? Would you like me to fact-check it for you?” he said.