Nitin Gadkari has asked the Congress to delete the post "within 24 hours". (FILE)
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday sent a legal notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party general secretary Jairam Ramesh for sharing a "twisted, distorted" version of one of his interviews on X.
Mr Gadkari said that the Congress posted the 19-second audio and visual clipping by "concealing the contextual intent and meaning" of his interview. He claimed the "sinister act" had been done with the sole intent to "fan and create confusion, sensation and disrepute" to him.
The 66-year-old has asked the Congress to delete the post "within 24 hours of receipt of this legal notice" and also demanded a written apology within three days.
Calling the video clip factually incorrect, he said that it was an "intentional attempt" by the Congress leaders to "insult and demean" him, "coupled with your intent to provoke members of Bhartiya Janata Party to develop ideological rift". He claimed that the clip has resulted in "big reputation damage, defamation and great loss of credibility".
"The interview has also been twisted, distorted and presented on your microblogging site 'X' wall by uploading the above video which is bereft and devoid of contextual meaning," read the notice.
In the video shared on X by the Congress, Mr Gadkari can be heard saying, "Villages, poor, labourers and farmers are unhappy...The villages do not have good roads, there is no water to drink, there are no good hospitals, there are no good schools".
The Cabinet Minister of Road Transport and Highways said that the Congress clipped the parts where he highlighted how much efforts were being made and the same is also giving good outcomes in the tenure of the present Union Government.
"(They) deliberately posted the Hindi captions and video by concealing the contextual meaning of the interaction which is deliberate and malicious to malign the reputation (of the minister)," he said.
The Congress is yet to respond to the notice.