Priyank Kharge gestures while addressing a press conference.
Credit: Priyank Kharge's office
Bengaluru: Karnataka IT/BT Minister and government spokesperson Priyank Kharge on Friday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "a big liar" who runs "a fake news factory to propagate lies".
Kharge said this at a news conference where he lashed out at BJP leaders Tejasvi Surya, Shobha Karandlaje and others for spreading "misinformation" on the Waqf controversy.
"The Chief Justice of India and Chief Election Commission have spoken about the dangers of fake news. The PM, too, has spoken about misinformation and fake news. But he's the owner of the fake news factory that (BJP) has institutionalised," Priyank said.
Priyank said the likes of Surya, Shobha and "hired orators" work for the "fake news factory". The minister termed them as "parasites".
Priyank slammed Surya for claiming that a farmer in Haveri died by suicide after his land was marked as Waqf property. "He later deleted the tweet after the government placed facts. An FIR was filed. This kid (Surya) says Priyank Kharge's only job is to get FIRs lodged. Don't I have other work to do?" he said.
The minister explained that even if a tweet like that is deleted, it remains in the 'fake news' ecosystem. "It becomes the main syllabus on WhatsApp University. After being shared widely, it finds its way into mainstream media. It disappears after the news cycle with nobody clarifying that it was false," he said.
Priyank pointed out that Friday was the 8th anniversary of demonetisation. "Is the BJP celebrating what was hailed as a masterstroke? There's no bigger liar than Modi," he said.
On the BJP's campaign against 'Land Jihad' (Waqf), Priyank asked what the saffron leaders were doing when in power. "When BJP was in power, 1.05 lakh acres of Waqf properties were identified. When Shobha Karandlaje asked a question in Parliament, she was told that the union government is carrying out GIS mapping of all Waqf properties to protect them. Why was she doing then?" he said.