Congress Hits Out At BJP Over Wrestlers' 'Fake' Image After Smriti Irani's 'Photo Bombed' Tweet

Congress also claimed that the BJP IT cell edited a photo of Vinesh Phogat while they were detained to show her and other detainees as smiling contrary to the original photo.

The Congress party on Monday hit out at Union minister Smriti Irani claiming that she hid tweets on wrestlers’ protest as replies on one of her photos that she shared on the microblogging site. Addressing a press conference at party headquarters in the national capital, it played a screen recording of the hidden replies to Irani’s tweet which talked about the scuffle that took place between the protesters and the police on Sunday.

The tweet in question that Irani posted was from inside the new Parliament House that was inaugurated on Sunday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the Central Vista project. 

Close to the event venue, protesting wrestlers gave a call for Mahila mahapanchayat and tried to take out a march from Jantar Mantar to the new Parliament building demanding action against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh when they were stopped by police. 

Star wrestlers who are heading the protest, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik were detained following the scuffle. Phogat shared a photo of the detained protestors from inside a detention vehicle, which the Congress in its press conference claimed was edited by the BJP IT cell to show as the protestors were smiling contradictory to the original photo. 

“You can ignore the truth but not deny it,” said party leader Alka Lamba during the press conference. 

“IT cell used an app to edit a photo of Vinesh Phogat to show that she is smiling,” she claimed, adding “the photo was shared by some BJP leaders and journalists in an attempt to malign their image.” 

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party led Centre, Lamba said, “When you don’t have answers you sell lies.” 

Star wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik were booked in an FIR on Sunday along with other organisers after the scuffle broke out between them and the police at Jantar Mantar.

They were booked for rioting and obstructing public servant in discharge of duty and the FIR was registered under Sections 147, 149, 186, 188, 332, 353 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.