With the election season on the horizon, the rivalry between the Congress and the BJP has spilled over into the virtual world, where both parties are engaging in a poster war targeting each other on social media.
A day after the Congress posted a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the caption “The Biggest Liar” and another calling him a “Jumla Boy,” who was “going to hit the election rally soon,” the ruling BJP at the Centre on Thursday shared a poster portraying former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as a “new age Ravan,” evoking strong criticism from the Opposition party, which termed it “unacceptable” and “downright dangerous.”
In a sharp retort, the BJP shared the poster of Rahul with several heads with the title “Bharat Khatre Mein Hai — A Congress party production. Directed by George Soros.” “The new age Ravan is here. He is Evil. Anti Dharma. Anti Ram. His aim is to destroy Bharat,” the BJP said on X.
Congress chief spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said it is intended to incite and provoke violence against the former Congress chief, whose father and grandmother were assassinated by forces that want to divide India.
Ramesh said, “It is one thing for the PM to give evidence daily of being a pathological liar and suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder. But for him to get his party to produce something this obnoxious is not just completely unacceptable but downright dangerous.”
“We will not be intimidated,” the Congress leader also asserted.
Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas B V posted another poster on X portraying Modi as “MODANAV.”
“The new age MODANAV is here. He is Evil. Anti Democracy. Anti Constitution. Anti People. Anti Humanity. His only aim is to destroy Bharat and the idea of INDIA,” he said on X along with the poster titled “Hindustan Khatre mein hai — MODANAV. A Bharat Jumlebaaj Party production. Directed by Param Mitra Adani.”
As the battle lines between the two main parties get drawn in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, their leaders have intensified their attacks against each other.
The poster war between the two parties is likely to escalate further in the coming months as elections in five States and the general elections draw near. Earlier also, both the parties had launched cartoon strips against leaders of both the opposing parties on social media.
A day earlier, senior BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa shared images of Rahul’s visit to Golden Temple and compared it with action on Punjab unrest by former PM Indira Gandhi, saying, “while grandmother sprayed bullets, grandson is doing seva.”
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said in a statement, “No words are enough to condemn the shameful graphic on the BJP handle comparing Rahul to Ravan. Their nefarious intentions are clear; they want to murder him. He, who lost his grandmother and father to assassinations.”
The Congress also reminded the withdrawal of SPG protection to the Gandhi family to score petty political points.”