'Malicious campaign': Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury blames hackers for 'big tree falls' tweet on Rajiv Gandhi, files complaint

New Delhi: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, one of the towering leaders of the Congress party, landed up in an embarrassing situation on Saturday because of a tweet commemorating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's death anniversary. The tweet, which was deleted later, had carried Gandhi's infamous 'when a big tree falls...' remark. Chowdhury described the tweet as a "malicious campaign being propagated by some unscrupulous elements" and lodged a police complaint claiming his Twitter account had been hacked.

After the 1984 riots following Indira Gandhi's assassination, her son, Rajiv Gandhi had said at a gathering: "When a big tree falls, the ground shakes". His opponents had seen the comment as him justifying the riots in which hundreds of Sikhs had been killed. Even over 30 years after his death, the Congress party's opponents try to corner the Gandhi family with the comment.

Chowdhury said some "unscrupulous elements" inimical to him and his party had tweeted the remark.

"I am vociferously refuting the content of the text quoted against my name. Today itself I am going to take legal action against those offenders, if not digital criminals," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANI.

In his complaint to the SHO, South Avenue Police Station, he wrote, "The content posted smacks of malice and I believe my Twitter account had been hacked by some wrong doers, for the reasons best known to them".

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claims that his Twitter account was hacked and has filed a Police complaint with South Avenue Police Station, New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/E07dZL0Dyq

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2022

He sought strict action against those responsible.