Days after her tweet based on lies almost caused communal riots in Karnataka, the police have finally booked the controversial BJP MP in the state for fuelling religious tension.

BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje has been booked after her ‘inflammatory’ tweets made desperate attempts to add religious angle to the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in Vijayapura.

Police said that an FIR was registered against Karandlaje on charges of provoking people to cause riots, disturbing communal harmony and spreading rumours.

Karandlaje’s tweet had said that ‘jihadis’ were behind the rape and murder of the 15-year-old girl as she also accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of inaction.

Her another tweet said, “Jihadis tried to rape and murder a girl studying in 9th std near honnavar. Why is the govt silent about this incident? Arrest those who molested and injured this girl. Where are you CM @siddaramaiah?”

Police said that the BJP MP’s tweets caused tension in the regions of coastal Karnataka, which was on the boil since 6 December when 18-year-old Paresh Mesta was found dead under mysterious circumstances.

Reacting to the death of Mesta, Karandlaje had astonishingly posted false details surrounding the cause of his death. Her claims that Mesta was a member of the Sangh Parivar was flatly denied by the deceased’s father. Her another claims that the dead body of Mesta had his heads splits and hot oil was poured on him too was rubbished in the doctor’s report.

Karnataka goes to polls next year and the BJP has made desperate attempts to communalise the political environment. The Hindutva plank of the BJP was key to its ability to save its government in Gujarat. The saffron party wants to replicate the same model in a bid to wrest power from the Congress-led government.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath last week had told a rally in Karnataka that the voters should defeat a party that respected Tipu Sultan and not Lord Hanuman. The BJP has always opposed Tipu Sultan, a brave Muslim ruler of the 18th century, who was martyred while fighting the British.

This stand, according to many analysts, is consistent with the BJP’s ideological parent, the RSS’s own history of conspiring with the British rulers against India.