New Delhi (Sputnik) - A police complaint was filed against Rahul Gandhi, President of India's main opposition Congress party for "disrespecting the Indian Army" over his tweet on International Yoga Day, where he posted pictures of Indian Army men practising yoga with dogs and described it as the "New India".
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) 21 June 2019
The complaint was lodged by lawyer Atal Bihari Dubey in Mumbai under Sections 124 A and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code for public mischief with an intention to disrespect the Army and the International Yoga Day.
“I say that Shri Gandhi posted a mischievous post intended to upset the public tranquillity. I say that, by putting such type of circulation with an intention to disrespect our Army is a clear-cut offence and Shri Rahul Gandhi needs to be prosecuted as per law,” Dubey mentioned in his complaint filed on Sunday.
— Hans Singh Rajput (@HansSingh13) 24 June 2019
The tweet led to an uproar in India's political circles and among netizens who accused Gandhi of comparing army men to dogs.
Gandhi got flak for his tweet from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, and other important leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) 21 June 2019
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) 21 June 2019
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) 21 June 2019
— Geetanjali Singh (@paperhearts79) 22 June 2019
— Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) 21 June 2019
Despite reactions from the country's top leaders and netizens, Gandhi has yet to react regarding his strange tweets.
Gandhi was projected as a strong opposition contender for the post of Prime Minister before the Indian Parliamentary Elections. The results fell very short of expectations from Gandhi's party.
The party with the distinction of having ruled Indian government the most number of times since independence, managed to win just 52 seats in the 543-member Indian Parliament's lower house. Since then he has been reluctant to continue as the party chief or lead his party in Parliament as the main leader of the Indian National Congress.