BJP said Digvijay Singh had also spread fake news on Batla House encounter. (File)
A day after Congress leader Digvijay Singh accused the BJP of paying Muslim youths for stone-throwing, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called him a "friend, philosopher and guide of fake news".
Mr Poonawalla also stated that whenever legal action is taken against rioters, Congress spreads fake news to shield them and stoke communal tensions.
In a self-made video, the BJP spokesperson on Wednesday said, "Singh is the friend, philosopher and guide of fake news, especially when he wants to protect rioters and terrorists. He does not have any facts or proof but he says that the Bharatiya Janata Party pays Muslim youths to pelt stones. Similarly, without facts and proof he gave this statement that 26/11 wasn't the conspiracy of Pakistan or Ajmal Kasab but that of the RSS and the Hindus. Without proof, Congress had earlier said that Hindus are terrorists and this has been reiterated by Congress leaders from P Chidambaram to Sushil Kumar Shinde."
He further said, "Post Khargone violence, Singh was the Congress leader who without facts and proof had tweeted a picture of some other place where some people could be seen planting flags on a mosque, to further flare communal tensions in the area. And in this manner, he propagated fake news by trying to associate that picture with that of Madhya Pradesh. Singh had also spread fake news on Batla House encounter to protect terrorists and questioned the martyrdom of Mohan Chand Sharma."
"He and his party also questioned the Indian Army and surgical strikes. They also called the Pulwama attack a conspiracy of the Indian security forces and gave a clean chit to Pakistan. Time and again Congress and Singh have spread fake news to protect rioters and terrorists. The question is, whenever there is legal action against rioters, be it in Jahangirpuri, Karauli, or other parts of the country, why does Congress favour them and why does it propagate lies to flare up communal tensions?" added Mr Poonawalla.
The BJP leader was reacting to the statement of Singh where he claimed that he received "unverified information that the BJP is paying poor Muslim youths to pelt stones".
While interacting with reporters during his visit to the Modi village in Madhya Pradesh's Jawad tehsil in Neemuch district, Mr Singh had said, "I am getting such complaints that some poor Muslim boys are being paid by the people of BJP to throw stones. But, (I) have not investigated it."
Mr Singh's remarks came after clashes were reported between two communities in Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat during religious processions on Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)