FIR Against Tejashwi Yadav Over ‘Objectionable’ PM Modi Post, RJD Leader Called Rally a ‘Shop of Rhetoric’

An FIR has been registered against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in Maharashtra for an allegedly ‘objectionable’ social media post targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The complaint was filed by local BJP MLA Milind Narote in Gadchiroli, leading the police to book Yadav under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The charges include promoting enmity between different groups, defamation, intentional insult to provoke a breach of peace, and making statements that cause public mischief. The controversy stems from a post Yadav shared on X, formerly Twitter, ahead of the Prime Minister’s rally in Gaya. The post featured a cartoon portraying PM Modi as a shopkeeper, with his satirical shop’s signboard reading “famous shop of Rhetoric.”

In the accompanying text, Yadav challenged the Prime Minister to account for his government’s performance. “Today, a shop of lies and rhetoric will be set up in Gaya! Prime Minister ji… you will build a Himalaya of lies and rhetoric today, but the justice-loving people of Bihar, like Dashrath Manjhi, will break down these massive mountains of your lies,” the post read in Hindi. “Give an account of your 11 years and the 20 years of the NDA government’s rule?”

The social media jab came as PM Modi addressed a rally in Bodh Gaya, where he launched a sharp counter-attack on the opposition. He accused the Congress and its allies of treating the people of Bihar merely as a “vote bank” and harbouring contempt for them. Modi referenced a past remark by former Congress Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, who had controversially urged people not to let “UP, Bihar ke bhaiya enter Punjab” during the 2022 assembly elections. “Such is the Congress’s hatred towards the people of Bihar,” Modi stated at the rally.