Twitter Slip On Morphed Photo Still Causing Trouble For Derek O'Brien

Kolkata: His cyber slip seems set to haunt Trinamool Congress lawmaker Derek O'Brien. On April 23, in the middle of the West Bengal elections, he had, at a press conference in Kolkata, unveiled a photograph of home minister Rajnath Singh popping a laddoo into CPM leader Prakash Karat's mouth.

"My favourite picture of the day," he had remarked. Here was proof, he suggested, of close ties between BJP and CPM. Trinamool had been under fire from rivals for behind-the-scene ties with the BJP.  

Top BJP leaders had immediately hit back, pointing out that the photo was morphed.

The original had Rajnath Singh giving Narendra Modi a laddoo, apparently the day he was declared BJP's prime ministerial candidate in September 2013. Within hours, Trinamool apologised and withdrew the photograph from its website.

But now, the BJP's Bengal unit plans to take Mr O'Brien to court, especially because the cyber cell of the state police is going slow on BJP's complaint against him.
 
Party spokesperson Joyprakash Majumdar said yesterday that BJP had filed a complaint with the cyber cell on 24 April, a day after Mr O'Brien's press conference with the morphed photo. The cyber police now have written to BJP, saying "legal opinion was being obtained" in the matter.

"This is unacceptable," Mr Majumdar said. "Did the police seek legal opinion before arresting Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra for forwarding a cartoon about Mamata Banerjee?"

Professor Mahapatra had been put behind bars for a night in April 2012. The issue had outraged a section of civil society.

The day after the morphed photo was made public, Mr Prakash Karat had filed a police complaint in Delhi against Mr O'Brien.

The Trinamool MP had said the morphed photo was made public by him by mistake. It was a slip by his research team, but he took full responsibility for it.