New Delhi: In and out of jail in the last few days, TMC national spokesperson Saket Gokhale Saturday has now filed an RTI seeking information about the expenditure incurred on PM Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi after the October 30 bridge collapse in which 135 people lost their lives.
"Gujarat Police says that the tweet I’d shared (shared - NOT my own) about the expenditure on PM Modi’s Morbi visit was fake. Time for the Gujarat Govt to tell us the actual numbers. If not answered, I now have the right to approach court & demand that answer be given," Saket Gokhale tweeted sharing a picture of his RTI application.
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Gujarat Police says that the tweet I’d shared (shared - NOT my own) about the expenditure on PM Modi’s Morbi visit was fake.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) December 10, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Time for the Gujarat Govt to tell us the actual numbers.
If not answered, I now have the right to approach court & demand that answer be given. pic.twitter.com/KtQTeHHDji
">Gujarat Police says that the tweet I’d shared (shared - NOT my own) about the expenditure on PM Modi’s Morbi visit was fake.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) December 10, 2022
Time for the Gujarat Govt to tell us the actual numbers.
If not answered, I now have the right to approach court & demand that answer be given. pic.twitter.com/KtQTeHHDjiGujarat Police says that the tweet I’d shared (shared - NOT my own) about the expenditure on PM Modi’s Morbi visit was fake.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) December 10, 2022
Time for the Gujarat Govt to tell us the actual numbers.
If not answered, I now have the right to approach court & demand that answer be given. pic.twitter.com/KtQTeHHDji
Earlier in the day, Gokhale alleged that his arrest was based on a "frivolous" case over a tweet on the collapse of the Morbi bridge in Gujarat and questioned why those responsible for the tragedy haven't been arrested yet. Gokhale was arrested on December 6, given bail and arrested again on Thursday. He was given bail again on Friday.
"I was arrested on orders of BJP, got bail, re-arrested, and got bail again - all in a span of 4 days. I'm grateful to the judiciary for upholding my liberty. BJP is hilariously mistaken if they thought this would break me. I'm only going to come at them harder," he said in a tweet. He further alleged that he was not given a notice for five days after an FIR was filed against him in Ahmedabad.
He claimed the police told him that the IB was tracking him and told the CISF to intercept him at Jaipur airport. "Ahmedabad Police who were in Delhi for a different case were told to rush to Jaipur to arrest me. A frivolous case was filed for sharing a tweet made by someone else. Funnily the police have no clue who that person is," he alleged.
The TMC leader was first arrested on Tuesday by the Ahmedabad cyber crime police for allegedly spreading fake news, and after he got bail on Thursday, the Morbi police arrested him for the same offence. On Friday, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate D K Chandrani granted bail to Gokhale on a bail bond of Rs 15,000 in the second case.
On December 1, Gokhale shared a news clipping which cited a purported Right to Information response to claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Morbi after the bridge collapse tragedy on October 30 cost Rs 30 crore. On Tuesday morning, the Press Information Bureau tweeted that the information was fake.
Also read: No action against 'real culprits' of bridge crash as they are linked to BJP: Rahul
The prime minister had visited Gujarat on November 1, a day after a colonial-era suspension bridge on the Machchu river in Morbi town collapsed, leaving 135 people dead. Gokhale took a swipe at Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his arrest. He alleged the aim was to find a way "to target me, throw me into jail, and keep me there.This is the Modi & Shah textbook perfected in UP & Gujarat."
"Ironically I was arrested twice in 3 days for a tweet about Morbi bridge collapse. And till date, the owners of Oreva company who built the faulty bridge haven't even been named in an FIR, let alone arrested. Modi is hurt by a tweet. Not by deaths of 135 innocent people," he said. Gokhake also alleged the second complaint in Morbi was filed against him on behalf of the Election Commission.
"Surprisingly, the case for electoral interference was filed after polling for both phases was over. EC, however, is ok with communal speeches & roadshows by Modi on poll day," he said. Gokhale also thanked his party's colleagues and lawyer for supporting him. "The BJP's problem is that it gets rattled far too easily. Their bigger problem is that throwing me in jail doesn't rattle me one bit. "The fight only gets stronger from here on," he said.
