File photos of Shehla Rashid and Nitin Gadkari. (PTI)

News18.com

Updated on: June 10, 2018, 12:30 PM IST

June 10, 2018, 12:30 PM IST FOLLOW US ON: Facebook Twitter Instagram

New Delhi: Union minister Nitin Gadkari threatened legal action against activist Shehla Rashid late on Saturday after the latter alleged his complicity in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Besides Gadkari, the former JNU students’ union vice-president also levelled the allegation against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and alleged that the motive was to blame the assassination on Muslims and Communists.


“Looks like RSS/Gadkari is planning to assassinate Modi, and then blame it upon Muslims/Communists and then lynch Muslims #RajivGandhiStyle,” Rashid tweeted.


Hours later, Gadkari, without naming Rashid, said he would take legal action against “anti-social elements”. “I would be taking legal action on anti-social elements who have made bizzare comments; attributing personal motives to me, regarding the assassination threat to PM @narendramodi,” he tweeted.


Hitting back, Rashid said the “leader of the world’s biggest party was getting worked up about a sarcastic tweet” and questioned whether Gadkari would take action against a media house for targeting fellow JNU activist Umar Khalid.

Rashid’s allegations follow the seizure of a letter by Pune police from the residence of a person arrested for alleged Maoist links. The letter purportedly talks about a "Rajiv Gandhi-type incident" targeting Modi during one of his road shows.

The letter was allegedly found in the home of Delhi resident Rona Wilson, one of the five people arrested from Mumbai, Nagpur and Delhi in connection with the 'Elgar Parishad' held in Pune in December and the subsequent Bhima-Koregaon violence.