'TMC looking at sweeping win...': Saket Gokhale hits back over Meghalaya case

Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale on Saturday hit out at the BJP yet again after a case was reported to be filed against him in Meghalaya. The 33-year-old TMC spokesperson was earlier this week "arrested, given bail, then arrested again and granted bail again" , he had said over a tweet he had posted on the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat. The post mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the accident site. Now, in the northeastern state of Meghalaya, the government has filed a case against Gokhale, news agency PTI reported, for making "deliberate, derogatory and malicious" claims that a state-owned tourism firm misappropriated over ₹630 crore funds.

"The Meghalayan Age Limited (MAL) has filed the complaint and sought remedies in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya...seeking prosecution of the accused Mr Saket Gokhale for the offence of criminal defamation...for making false and defamatory statements in the print/electronic media," the complaint underlines, as per PTI. The MAL is a state government-owned firm constituted under the Planning Department.

In his response, Gokhale linked the complaint to the assembly elections in the state due next year and said that the ruling coalition was threatened amid anticipation over Trinamool's poll performance. "Here’s the latest attempt by BJP & its ally NPP (National People’s Party) to intimidate me after 2 arrests in Gujarat. @AITC4Meghalaya is looking at a sweeping victory in Meghalaya in February elections. This terrifies the BJP. Like I said - we’ll fight. We’ll show these cowards their rightful place. (sic)," Gokhale's tweet read.

This is the latest in the barrage of attacks by Gokhale against the BJP. On Saturday, he had said that the two arrests won't stop him, stressing that he will "come back harder". "Modi is hurt by a tweet. Not by deaths of 135 innocent people," he also wrote, targeting the Prime Minister.

The tweet by Gokhale on Morbi was contradicted by the Press Information Bureau, which had said: "Quoting an RTI, It is being claimed in a tweet that PM’s visit to Morbi cost ₹30 cr. This claim is fake. (sic)"

The October 31 bridge collapse in Morbi was one of the worst accidents linked to a bridge in the country in recent times.

(With inputs from PTI)