BJP says Cong using 'tooltkit' to dent image; Oppn calls it fake, files plaint

New Delhi: In a war of words between the leaders of BJP and Congress over an alleged "Congress Toolkit" which was shared on Tuesday by several BJP leaders, who accused the party of trying to smear the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with tips like calling the India-dominant mutant the "India strain" or the "Modi strain", the Congress accused the BJP of propagating a "fake toolkit" to defame it and lodged a police complaint against the ruling party chief JP Nadda and its spokesperson Sambit Patra.

The opposition party alleged on its Twitter handle that instead of helping people during the Covid-19 pandemic, the BJP is stooping to low-level politics.

"BJP is propagating a fake 'toolkit' on 'Covid-19 mismanagement' and attributing it to AICC Research Department. We are filing an FIR for forgery against JP Nadda and Sambit Patra," Congress' research cell head Rajeev Gowda said on Twitter.

"When our country is devastated by Covid, instead of providing relief, BJP shamelessly concocts forgeries," he also alleged.

In a letter to the police, the Congress has accused the BJP of forging the letterhead of the AICC (All India Congress Committee) Research Department. Apart from Nadda, the Congress FIR names Smriti Irani, BL Santosh and Sambit Patra.

Calling the BJP's national general secretary BL Santhosh's shared tweet as fake, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked the Centre to stop wasting time on spreading lies and start saving lives.

However, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate at a virtual press conference claimed that there is no such document as shown by the BJP spokesperson and the party was initiating legal action.

The party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Soon after the BJP forged the "fake toolkit", all its "fake devotees" and "friends in the media" came out to set the agenda."

Shrinate further alleged that the government's priorities are misplaced as it was resorting to such "tactics" instead of helping the Covid-19 affected.

However, the BJP has hit out at the Congress over an alleged toolkit of the opposition party, saying it wants to tarnish the image of the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling the new strain of the coronavirus the "India strain" or the "Modi strain".

Citing the toolkit, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that according to the document, it is clear that Congress extending help to the needy during the pandemic is "more of a public relations exercise with the help of friendly journalists and influencers than a soulful endeavour".

In accordance with the agenda of the toolkit, Congress has instructed its social media volunteers to call the new mutant strain of Covid-19 the "Modi strain" or the "India strain", Patra claimed in a tweet.

Taking on the Congress over its alleged toolkit, BJP president JP Nadda, that dividing the society and "spewing venom against others. Congress is a master at this".

"India is seeing Congress' antics, while the nation is fighting Covid-19. I would urge Congress to go beyond 'Toolkit Models' and do something constructive," Nadda said in a tweet.

Echoing similar sentiments, Union minister Smriti Irani said, "I can understand the Opposition would want to attack the government. But to singularly commercialise it as a political opportunity and deal in death; I never imagined Congress was capable of such a low."

Later in the day, most of the union ministers such as Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Kumar Singh, etc.