Asserting that they would not be cowed down by the RSS-BJP’s “poisonous mindset”, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said his party would launch an agitation against threats to Rahul Gandhi.

Kharge also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s failure to take action against leaders of his party who used derogatory remarks against the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Kharge said BJP leaders make provocative and objectionable statements against Rahul Gandhi but why doesn’t Narendra Modi take action against them, because he himself is afraid?

“These people had stayed at home out of fear even at the time of independence. But the people of Congress were not afraid. They fought for independence, made sacrifices and got freedom for the country. Even today Congress is not going to be afraid,” Kharge charged.

“BJP, RSS leaders, including MLAs and MPs, talk about chopping off the tongues of our leaders. Rahul Gandhi is under attack for speaking the truth and an atmosphere of hate is created against him like (it was done against his grandmother) Indira Gandhi,” Kharge said.

“Such provocative speeches by the BJP and the RSS are ignored by the Prime Minister, who has failed to rein in these leaders and take action against them because he is frightened of them,” he said.

Kharge, who reached Jammu to campaign for Congress candidates in the assembly elections, said Gandhi was being dubbed a “terrorist” and “anti-national” and added that the Prime Minister was encouraging such things and provoking people by not taking action.

In a major setback for the central government, the Bombay High Court on Friday struck down the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules, which sought to identify fake and false content on social media against the government, and held it unconstitutional.

The court, while hearing four petitions filed by stand-up comic Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, the Association of Indian Magazines and the News Broadcast and Digital Association, held that the rules violated constitutional provisions.

As a tie-breaker judge, A S Chandurkar, was hearing the matter after a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale in January delivered a split verdict on the petitions challenging the amended IT rules.

While Justice Patel struck down the Rules, Justice Gokhale upheld them.

Justice Patel had said the Rules amounted to censorship, but Justice Gokhale had opined they did not have any `chilling effect’ on free speech as argued.

In today’s hearing, Justice Chandurkar held the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023, which empowers the Centre to set up Fact Check Units (FCUs) for identifying fake news online, against Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution.

“I have considered the matter extensively. The impugned rules are violative of Article 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 19(1)(g) (freedom and right to profession) of the Constitution of India,” the judge said.

The expression “fake, false and misleading” in the Rules was “vague and hence wrong” in the absence of any definition, he added.

Justice Chandurkar said he agreed with the opinion given by Justice Patel (now retired).

On April 6, 2023, the Union government promulgated amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, including a provision for an FCU to flag fake, false, or misleading online content related to the government.

Under the IT Rules, if the FCU comes across any posts that are fake, false, and contain misleading facts about the business of the government, it would flag the same to social media intermediaries.

Days after Atishi was selected as the new Delhi Chief Minister following the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal from the post, the Aam Aadmi Party on Friday demanded a government accommodation for the outgoing CM, saying he is entitled to it on account of being the convener of a national party.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha said the party would be writing to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and hoped that it would provide the accommodation to the party’s national convener in one or two days.

Kejriwal, who resigned as the Chief Minister of Delhi earlier this week, will move out of the official residence within 15 days, the party said earlier.

Chadha said every national party was entitled to two resources, an office and an accommodation for its head, to function from Delhi.

AAP became a national party following the Gujarat Assembly polls in 2022 in which it got some seats and a good vote percentage, he said.

The Centre provided AAP with an office after two years of struggle and the intervention of the court. AAP moved to its new office on the Ravi Shankar Shukla Lane in Mandi House last month, vacating its old DDU Marg office near ITO.

“I urge the Centre to follow the rules without any delay and any political consideration, and provide a government accommodation to party national convener Arvind Kejriwal which is his and the Aam Aadmi Party’s right,” Chadha said.

The presidents of the six national parties in the country, including JP Nadda of the BJP, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress and Mayawati of the BSP, have been provided government accommodation in the national capital, he said.

The Rajya Sabha member also hoped AAP would not have to fight a legal battle for the government accommodation to party supremo Kejriwal.

Kejriwal will very soon give up all the official facilities provided to him as chief minister after his resignation was accepted, Chadha said. After the oath of the new chief minister, he will start giving up the facilities, he said.

“He does not have a property or even his own house. As the convener of a national party, he is entitled to a government accommodation. The Centre should give him that,” Chadha added.