Bengaluru: Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad on Friday withdrew the defamation case he had filed against the state unit of the BJP. The withdrawal comes after the state BJP deleted the tweets made during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, which allegedly contained baseless accusations of manufacturing fake voter ID cards against him. The private complaint filed by Rizwan Arshad, the Shivaji Nagar MLA, against the state BJP unit president and the IT unit president, was heard by K N Shivakumar, the 42nd Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Bengaluru.

Reason for Withdrawal of the Case

Rizwan Arshad’s advocates, Surya Mukundaraj and Sanjay Yadav, submitted a petition to the court. The state BJP unit president has removed the links to the objectionable tweets that contained baseless accusations against the complainant. The BJP state unit president submitted a memo to the court regarding this on December 8.

By deleting the tweets, the allegations made therein are considered withdrawn. Consequently, the complainant does not wish to pursue the case further. Considering the advocates’ submission, the judge allowed MLA Rizwan Arshad to withdraw the private complaint and closed the case. Arshad was personally present in the court during the hearing.

Path to Reconciliation

Discussions regarding a compromise had taken place during earlier hearings of the case. During the hearing on October 28, 2025, the advocate for the BJP state unit had sought time to discuss the possibility of a compromise with their client. When the case came up for hearing again on December 8, the court was informed that three objectionable tweets made against Rizwan Arshad had been deleted, and a memo to this effect was submitted to the court.

Background of the Case: 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

Here is a brief background of the incident that led to the defamation suit:

Rizwan Arshad contested as the Congress candidate from the Bengaluru Central constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.During this time, Youth Congress National Secretary Ibrahim Khalilullah, who was involved in Arshad's campaign, was arrested following allegations by the BJP. On April 15, 2019, the BJP Karnataka Twitter handle posted a series of tweets. The tweets alleged that "Khalilullah, on behalf of Rizwan Arshad, was printing fake voter ID cards in room number 507 of Prabhat Complex on KG Road." The BJP widely circulated this allegation on social media, demanding action to disqualify Rizwan Arshad from the contest.

Filing of the Defamation Suit

Following this, on May 22, 2019, Rizwan Arshad filed a private complaint in the Magistrate Court, alleging that the BJP had spread false and baseless information with the sole intention of harming his reputation in society. He pointed out that the Chief Electoral Officer himself had clarified to the media that no irregularity had taken place.

He sought action against the then BJP state unit president and the IT Cell president under IPC Sections 499 (Defamation) and 500 (Punishment for defamation), stating that the slander had caused him, his family, his party, and party workers mental agony.The controversy has now concluded with the official withdrawal of the defamation case following the deletion of the tweets.