New Delhi: A photograph of AAP Gujarat chief Gopal Italia has gone viral on social media. The politician can be seen behind bars, and the post’s many sharers believe it was clicked Thursday, when Italia was detained for over three hours after being picked up outside the National Commission of Women in Delhi.
The photograph has been shared by a flurry of Gopal Italia supporters and official accounts, including those of AAP MLAs Naresh Balyan and Sanjay Singh. Balyan tweeted with multiple revolutionary slogans, one of which was popularised by Ram Prasad Bismil in the fight against the British Raj.
"सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है,
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है!!'"दम है कितना दमन में तेरे देख लिया है देखेंगे,
जगह है कितनी जेल में तेरे देख लिया है देखेंगे।"#isupportgopalitalia pic.twitter.com/nMoXZznjOL— Naresh Balyan (@AAPNareshBalyan) October 13, 2022
Sanjay Singh wrote: “Why does the BJP hate Gujaratis? As @Gopal_Italia started gaining favour among the people, the BJP arrested him because they’re afraid of losing elections. Gujaratis will take revenge for this injustice.” The post has over 2,500 likes and has been shared over a thousand times.
.@BJP4India को पटेल समाज के लोगों से इतनी नफ़रत क्यों है?
गुजरात में @Gopal_Italia की लोकप्रियता बढ़ने लगी, चुनाव में हार का डर सताने लगा तो दिल्ली में BJP की पुलिस ने गोपाल इटालिया को गिरफ़्तार कर लिया।
पटेल समाज इस अपमान का बदला ज़रूर लेगा।#isupportGopalItaliya pic.twitter.com/raFckRkv2b— Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) October 13, 2022
They were far from the only ones to share angry, heated remarks captioning the photograph The official AAP Gujarat Twitter account also entered the fray, as did another MLA, Kuldeep Kumar, an AAP Delhi spokesperson, according to his Twitter account.
किसान और पाटीदार आंदोलन के कारण गुजरात के सौराष्ट्र के कुछ जिलों में भाजपा का सफाया हो गया था। विशेषकर अमरेली और गीर सोमनाथ में, जहां वह कांग्रेस से सभी सीटों पर हार गई थी।
क्या इसी का बदला पाटीदार समुदाय से लिया जा रहा है #पाटीदार_विरोधी_बीजेपी pic.twitter.com/mKCfjXvJK4— MLA Kuldeep Kumar (@KuldeepKumarAAP) October 13, 2022
The replies were full of support for the “wronged” AAP leader, with the photograph having become illustrative of the alleged injustice. Twitter has been flooded with the hashtag #ISupportGopalItalia.
The image was even used by the widely read Gujarati newspaper Divya Bhaskar on their website.
While the detention actually took place on Thursday, the photograph being shared is from May this year when Italia was actually in prison.
Gopal Italia has dominated a chunk of the news cycle this week, with his purported comments calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘neech person’, and stirring up a controversy by making a statement telling Hindu women not to go to temples.
The AAP government believes a conspiracy is afoot by the BJP.
Also read: Video showing empty venue at PM Modi’s event misleading, viral clip taken after program