Indian opposition social media chief arrested over ‘doctored’ video

Mr Reddy is the head of social media for the opposition Congress Party – X

The social media chief of India’s main opposition party has been arrested over accusations he doctored a widely shared video during the ongoing national election, according to police.

Arun Reddy of the Congress Party was detained late on Friday in connection with the misleadingly edited footage which falsely shows Amit Shah, India’s powerful interior minister, vowing to end affirmative action policies for millions of poor and low-caste Indians.

Mr Shah is often referred to as the second-most powerful man in India after Narendra Modi, the Hindu-nationalist prime minister, and the pair have been close political allies for decades.

Hemant Tiwari, the deputy commissioner of Delhi police, told AFP: “[Mr Reddy] was arrested yesterday on investigation about … a doctored video of the home minister. We produced him in the court and he is in police custody.”

Shama Mohamed, spokesperson for the Congress Party, confirmed Reddy’s arrest to AFP but denied he was responsible for creating or publishing the clip. She said: “He is not involved in any doctored video. We are supporting him.”

Mr Shah speaking at a political rally last month – Niharika Kulkarni/AFP

Authorities seized Mr Reddy’s electronic devices for forensic verification, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Saturday, quoting an unnamed police officer who accused Reddy of having “cropped and edited” the video.

Mr Shah has been campaigning on behalf of Mr Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is widely expected to win a third term when India’s six-week election concludes next month.

Analysts have long expected Mr Modi to triumph against a fractious alliance of the Congress Party and more than two dozen other parties, which has yet to name a candidate for prime minister.

His prospects have been further bolstered by several criminal investigations into his opponents and a tax investigation this year that froze the Congress Party’s bank accounts.

Opposition figures and human rights organisations have accused Modi’s government of orchestrating these probes, to weaken its rivals.

Rising Hindu-nationalist fervour

Mr Modi’s government remains widely popular a decade after coming to power, in large part due to its positioning of the nation’s majority Hindu faith at the centre of its politics, despite India’s officially secular constitution.

That in turn has left India’s 220 million-strong Muslim community feeling threatened by the rise of Hindu-nationalist fervour.

Since voting began last month, both Mr Modi and Mr Shah have stepped up campaign rhetoric on India’s principal religious divide in an effort to rally voters.

In the original campaign speech at the centre of the police investigation against Reddy, Shah vows to end affirmative action measures for Muslims established in the southern state of Telangana.

Mr Modi last month used a campaign rally to refer to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”, prompting condemnation and an official complaint to election authorities by Congress.

But the prime minister has not been sanctioned for his remarks despite election rules which prohibit campaigning on “communal feelings” such as religion, prompting frustration from the opposition camp.

“Where is the election commission when the Prime Minister is spewing hate every day?” Ms Mohamed asked.

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