Nitin Gadkari Hits Back After Former Student Leader's "Bizarre" Tweet

New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said he will take legal action against "anti-social elements" who are making allegations involving him in the assassination threat against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The minister's declaration, posted on Twitter, came after former JNU students' union president Shehla Rashid's tweet accusing the minister and the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsvak Sangh or RSS of involvement.

The plot to assassinate the Prime Minister in a "Rajiv Gandhi-type incident" during one of his roadshows has been revealed in a letter seized from the home of a suspected Maoist, the Pune police told a court last week.

The plan was mentioned in a letter seized from the house of Rona Wilson - one of the five arrested people whom the police have described as the "top brass of urban Maoists'.

Without naming Ms Rashid, Mr Gadkari responded:  "I would be taking legal action on anti-social elements who have made bizzare comments; attributing personal motives to me, regarding the assassination threat to PM," his tweet read.
 

Looks like RSS/Gadkari is planning to assassinate Modi, and then blame it upon Muslims/Communists and then lynch Muslims #RajivGandhiStyle

— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) June 9, 2018

Ms Rashid tweeted again, accusing the minister of over-reacting and questioned if he would take similar action in another situation:
 

Leader of world's biggest party gets worked up about a sarcastic tweet. Imagine what an innocent student @UmarKhalidJNU must be going through after a baseless media assault on him & his father by Times Now.

Mr. Gadkari, will you also take action against Rahul Shivshankar? https://t.co/tNDZLrqOKV

— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) June 9, 2018

Last week, JNU student leader Umar Khalid filed a complaint with the Delhi Police saying he received death threats from a man who identified himself as fugitive gangster Ravi Pujari. Two years ago, Mr Khalid's father Syed Qasim Illyas Rasool had also filed a police complaint, claiming he received a phone call "threatening to kill" his son if he doesn't leave the country.

The police said the threats against the Prime Minister were found in a laptop belonging to Rona Wilson. The letter, addressed to one "Comrade Prakash" was signed by the initial "R" - which the police take to mean Rona Wilson, a rights activist and former JNU student.
 A copy of the letter, released by news agency ANI, read: "defeating Hindu fascism has been our core agenda and a major concern... We are working to consolidate ties with like-minded organisations, political parties, representatives of minorities across the country."

The others arrested along with Rona Wilson over January's caste-related violence in Maharashtra's Bhima-Koregaon were Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, lawyer Surendra Gadling and activists Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen.