AMN / NEW DELHI

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today condemned the arrest of three journalists for allegedly “defaming” Yogi Adityanath, saying the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was “behaving foolishly”. The arrests over the weekend sparked a huge debate on social media on freedom of expression in the country.

A total of five people, including freelance journalist Prashant Kanojia, were arrested in two days on charges of posting allegedly objectionable content about the Chief Minister. The Supreme Court today ordered that Mr Kanojia be immediately released on bail while hearing a petition filed by his wife who had challenged his arrest.

“If every journalist who files a false report or peddles fake, vicious RSS/BJP sponsored propaganda about me is put in jail, most newspapers/ news channels would face a severe staff shortage. The UP CM is behaving foolishly & needs to release the arrested journalists,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.