By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A day after the protest march by former chief minister Harish Rawat, the ruling BJP on Friday deleted a controversial AI generated reel from Facebook which the Congress leader alleged had dented his public image.
In his attempt to build political pressure on BJP, Rawat (77), supported by Congress workers, on Thursday took out a march to the BJP’s headquarters in Dehradun in protest against the reel which showed him a leader who allegedly appeases Muslims. In another reel, he was portrayed a Pakistani spy.
But Rawat remained adamant for a public apology from the BJP. “BJP should publicly apologize. Merely deleting reel is not enough,” Rawat said.
Rawat had also threatened to launch a six-day long agitation from January in case the BJP did not accept his demands. Rawat filed an FIR against BJP on Wednesday on the issue. Rawat later said he would renew his agitation from January 16 as he would now focus completely on the politically sensitive Ankita Bhandari murder case to seek a CBI probe.
Rawat arrived at Nehru Colony Fountain Chowk at 1 PM in Dehradun as per his previously announced schedule on Thursday. Despite heavy barricading and minor scuffles between Congress supporters and policemen, Rawat managed to reach the BJP headquarters where he first paid tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying BJP should maintain social harmony by taking everyone along.
He said, “BJP friends, you are lying when you try to tarnish my public image. You all speak in one voice from top to bottom. When challenged, you don’t provide proof. That’s why I have come today to ask for proof from you.”
“I have been portrayed as a spy for Pakistan and a traitor. Violence based on hatred towards me has been encouraged, even suggesting I should be shot. Provide proof that I am a Pakistani spy. You have misused AI to present my image in such a way that it disrupts the social harmony of the state,” Rawat said angrily.
He also criticized the BJP government on the Ankita Bhandari murder case, amid new revelations of the presence of VIPs by names of Gattu and Bhattu when she was murdered in a resort in Pauri district in 2022.
He said that Ankita’s murder is an attack on Uttarakhand, and the way evidence was destroyed, bulldozers were used, and forensic evidence was erased, all of it was a conspiracy to save Gattu and Bhattu, and a CBI inquiry should be ensured by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court.