Congress Slams Noida District Magistrate Over 'Pappu' Post On Rahul Gandhi

The Congress on Friday said an "unacceptable comment" directed at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was made in a social media post from the official X handle of the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate and demanded action against the officer.

Later, a statement was posted on the X handle of District Magistrate Manish Verma, saying some anti-social elements had misused his ID card and posted a "wrong comment".

"Taking this seriously, legal action is being taken by registering an FIR immediately and the wrong tweet/comment is being investigated by the cyber cell," it said.

A copy of the FIR was also later posted on the handle.

Earlier, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the X handle of the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate in Uttar Pradesh posted a completely "inappropriate and unacceptable comment" on the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.

"This is not a new development; over the last 10 years, India's bureaucracy and other non-political officials have become increasingly politicised," Mr Ramesh said on X.

"There is a lot of effort being made to suppress and render useless the civil service, which Sardar Patel once called the steel frame of India. Cases like this are the latest example of that effort," he said.

Immediate action must be taken against this officer who has brazenly violated all rules and norms, Mr Ramesh said.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate had posted a clip from her conversation with a historian on X, in which she said, "History is made and cannot be changed. Narendra Modi knows how history will remember him and that is why he is worried." In response, a post -- which was later deleted -- from the official X handle of the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate said in Hindi, "You should think about yourself and your Pappu." Shrinate later posted a screenshot of the deleted post and said, "He is DM Noida, he is responsible for the entire district. His language and thoughts about the country's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi must be seen." "It is clear that the administrative staff is full of Sanghis -- and now they are fanning hatred by sitting on constitutional posts," she added.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "Have IAS officers now been ordered to make such political comments under BJP rule? @myogiadityanath @HMOIndia." The post was made from a handle which is not verified. It states that it is the official handle of the Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)