TRUTH: The letter is fake. It was first published by Postcard News but after much trolling, they were forced to take it down.
A fake letter released by Postcard news, claims that MB Patil, Water Resources Minister from Karnataka and President of Bijapur Lingayat Association engineered the Lingayat divide to win the Karnataka election. The letter dated, 10th July 2017, written on the letterhead of the Bijapur Longayat District Education Association addressed to Sonia Gandhi, was photoshopped and circulated before Karnataka went to polls in an attempt to sway votes to help BJP win the election.
The strategy to win votes in Karnataka mentions that in a meeting held with representatives of the Global Christian Council and World Islamic Organisation explains that the only way the BJP can be divided is by splitting the Lingayat vote. “This can be achieved by uniting the Muslims and Christians on the basis of their faith: divide the Hindus on the basis of caste/sub-caste and sect and sub/sect. To achieve this objective it was decided that we use the difference prevailing in the Veerashaiva- Lingayat community and announce sops for Muslims and Christians in our budget and later in the election manifesto.”
The letter was uploaded on the 10th of May, two days before the election and taken down on the 11th of May.
This is not the first time Postcard News has faced criticism for publishing fake news. The founder of Postcard news, Mahesh Hegde was arrested for circulating fake news and communally sensitive news on the 29th of March 2018 and was released on bail on the 25th of April. Sensational news is the need of the hour especially when Mahesh Hegde has over 70,000 followers on his Twitter account a great way for the BJP to spread their lies and communal agenda.
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