New Delhi: It is a minor political war in cyber space. An angry Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that the Congress party "bought" a website mimicking the BJP's own which re-directed all hits to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) site. The BJP has served a legal notice, an official said on Sunday.
"Yes, we have served a legal notice," a BJP official said.
"Anyone, who types www.bjp.com is directly taken to/connected with the website of the Indian National Congress viz., www.congress.org.in. While typing www.bjp.com on the Internet browser, the caption which appears is www.bjp.com - All India Congress Committee - AICC and on punching the enter button, the user gets immediately directed to the website www.congress.org.in ie, the website of the Indian National Congress," said a notice issued by the BJP to the Congress.
"Several factors point to the fact that the said linking and re-directing of users from the impugned domain name to the official website of the Indian National Congress is not only deliberate, but also mischievous, impermissible and unlawful," the issued notice added.
The BJP was worried over low hits to its website on September 30, the day the Ayodhya verdict was out. Those who tried to visit the BJP website were disappointed as it was re-directed to aicc.com, said a party official.
Party officials said a "cyber case legal notice" was sent to the AICC headquarters here on Friday. The BJP's website is bjp.org.
The BJP alleges that the AICC "bought" a website bjp.com from a foreigner to "mislead" the people visiting its website.
According to the BJP, more than 40 lakh hits were received on the 'bjp.com' site on September 30, and users were automatically redirected to the AICC site.
The private website is owned by Bharat Janata Prakashan, allege BJP officials.
(With IANS, ANI inputs)
First Published: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 13:29