BJP, Cong in cyber ‘warfare’

It is now a cyber war between the Congress and BJP, as the main Opposition on Sunday accused the ruling party for indulging in “petty, pickpocket-like theft” of its online identity. The saffron party has also served a legal notice on the Congress claiming that a surreptitiously created portal having a similar domain name that of BJP was diverting users to the AICC website. The Congress, while dismissing the allegation, said, it had not got any such notice, but once received, it would give a befitting reply.
Making the accusation against the ruling party, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman informed reporters that the legal notice was served on the Congress on September 27, but there had been no official response from it.
She said it had been noticed that when someone clicked on a website called www.bjp.com [1], it automatically diverted the user to the AICC website. “The BJP sent a legal notice to the Congress on a matter of petty theft... a theft so low... of its political rival’s identity. A pickpocket-like theft. But the ruling party has not yet responded to it officially,” she said. Arguing that political parties, when they registered as websites, do so in the .org format, as they are not commercial institutions, she said, “Political parties do not register under .com because commercial establishments usually have .com websites. But some time back bjp.com has been created by some... We do not know who.”
Since the website was “masked” and linked itself to the Congress website, it was important for the BJP to know who was behind it and hence the legal notice to the ruling party, she added.
Reacting to this, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “As of now, no such notice has been brought to my attention. If and when it is received, we will give a befitting reply to such sensationalism and distortion. It is laughable to suggest that the Congress should seek to copy the BJP website.”
Lamenting the main Opposition for politicising the issue, Mr Singhvi said, “Given the electorate’s rejection of the BJP and our connectivity and popularity in India, most people believe it should be other way round.”