Threat to kill Kharge: FIR against BJP leader in Bihar

The Indian National Congress in Bihar has lodged an FIR against Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manikanta Rathod at the Patliputra police station for a purported audio clip, wherein Rathore could be heard threatening Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with dire consequences.

"We are frightened by such an audio clip in which BJP leader Manikant Rathore threatened Mallikarjun Kharge. We could face untoward incidents as the BJP leaders can try to eliminate us by giving contract to others," said Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Singh.

"The BJP leadership can't digest how Kharge, the son of a Dalit labourer, became the national president of [the] Congress. The BJP is anguished as the dharti putra [son of the soil] of Karnataka is getting the support of common people. The BJP is scared of losing the elections in Karnataka. We have requested the police to investigate the threatening audio clip and take action against the BJP leader," Singh added.

The Rajasthan Police has also booked Rathod over charges of murder and criminal intimidation for his remarks against Kharge. An FIR has been filed at Sanjay Circle Police Station, Jaipur, at the complaint of Congress state secretary Ram Singh Kaswan.

According to Kotwali Assistant Commissioner of Police in Kotwali Narendra Kumar who is also the investigating officer in the case, Rathod has been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), and under sections of the SC/ST Act.

The Congress on May 6 had shared an audio purportedly of Manikanta Rathod, the BJP candidate from Chittapur constituency in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka, saying in Kannada that he will wipe out "Kharge, his wife and children".

Notably, the BJP leader is named in 40 police cases, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a poll-reform body.