New Delhi
Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday retweeted a derogatory remark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but later said he did not endorse it after controversy erupted.
“Retweets are never endorsements. This is the basic principle of Twitter,” Digvijay Singh told reporters here.
A few hours earlier, Digvijay had retweeted a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Digvijay Singh shared the tweet with a disclaimer: “Not mine but couldn’t help posting it. My apologies to the person concerned. He is the best in the ‘Art of Fooling!’”
After it triggered a controversy, the Congress leader said that the words used by him - “He is the best in the ‘Art of Fooling’” -- are “not derogatory”.
He asked mediapersons as to why they were not questioning the prime minister who “did not tweet a word of condemnation on journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder”.
“Does Modiji, who tweets on even very trivial things, not have time to write a word in condemnation of that lady’s murder who, much like her illustrious father, fought all her life against the people who are spreading poison of communalism in our society?” Singh said.
He also demanded to know why Modi had not “unfollowed” four people who used abusive language against Lankesh after her murder.
Singh insisted that he had not used any unparliamentary word against anyone in his tweets, neither did any of his followers.
Karnataka offers Rs10 lakh reward for clues on Lankesh killers
The Karnataka government on Friday announced Rs10 lakh reward for information or clues leading to the killers of journalist-cum-activist Gauri Lankesh who was gunned down here on Tuesday.
“The state government has decided to reward Rs10 lakh to any person providing information or clues to the killers of Lankesh,” state Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy told reporters here.
The decision was taken at a special meeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held earlier in the day with Reddy, Home Department officials and the Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up to probe the sensational murder of the 55-year-old woman journalist outside here house by three unidentified men.
“The Chief Minister also directed the SIT to intensify the probe and nab the culprits at the earliest as it has been given adequate force and logistics support to crack the case,” asserted Reddy.
The 21-member SIT, headed by Inspector General of Police B.K. Singh was formed on Wednesday, with the city’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, West, M.N. Anucheth as the Chief Investigation Officer.
With no headway in the investigation so far, the SIT on Thursday sought public help in sharing any information on the suspected killers who fled the spot on a motorbike after the crime.
