BJP, Cong engage in poster war on social media
New Delhi (PTI): The poster war between the Congress and the BJP intensified on social media on Thursday with the ruling party sharing a poster on X portraying Rahul Gandhi as a "new age Ravan", evoking strong criticism from the opposition party which termed it "unacceptable" and "downright dangerous".
The poster came out a day after the Congress posted on X 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".
In a sharp retort, the BJP on its official handle on X shared a poster of Gandhi
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.
Taking strong offence, Congress general secretary in charge of communications 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.
"What is the real intent of an atrocious graphic portraying Rahul Gandhi as Ravan by the BJP's official handle? It is clearly intended to incite and provoke violence against a Congress MP and a former President of the party, whose father and grandmother were assassinated by forces that want to divide India," he said in a post on X.
"It is one thing for the PM to give evidence daily of being a pathological liar and of suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder. But for him to get his party to produce something this obnoxious is not just completely unacceptable, but is downright dangerous," Ramesh said.
"We will not be intimidated," he asserted.
AICC general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal also said, "No words are enough to condemn the shameful graphic on the BJP handle comparing Sh. Rahul Gandhi ji to Ravana."
"Their nefarious intentions are clear, they want to murder him. He, who lost his grandmother and father to assassinations. They withdrew his SPG protection to score petty political points. After evicting him from his secure residence, they haven't allocated another house that he has requested for," he said.
"All this points to a well-planned conspiracy of the BJP to eliminate their fiercest critic, someone who attacks the very core of their hate-filled ideology," Venugopal further said.
Later, Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas B V posted another poster on X portraying PM 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."
Ramesh also later posted on X a cartoon showing Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru among ten heads of Ravan and showed Savarkar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as Ram and Laxman, aiming at them with a bow and arrow.
"This cartoon was published in 1945 in Leading magazine, whose editor was Nathuram Godse. One of those who shoots arrows is Savarkar. Gandhi and Congress have always been their target, but neither were they afraid then, nor are they afraid today, nor are they going to be afraid in the future," Ramesh said on X along with the poster.
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 too, both the parties had launched cartoon strips against leaders of both the opposing parties on social media.
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Unruly scenes witnessed in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Assembly on Friday witnessed high drama on Friday after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira made an allegedly objectionable remark against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during an intense argument over the alleged use of mobile phone in the house by the legislator.
During the one-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here, Mann accused Khaira of using a mobile phone when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was reading out an official resolution on the revision of wages.
After rising from his seat, the chief minister pointed to the speaker, claiming that Khaira is busy on his mobile phone and urged him to ask the Congress MLA what Sandhwan had said about the resolution.
The speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order in the house and listen to the resolution carefully.
Mann then asked Khaira, "Why don't you go out and then use it (mobile phone)," which led to a strong verbal altercation during which the opposition MLA hurled an accusation against the chief minister. Meanwhile, the speaker appealed for order and insisted that the chair be addressed.
However, both Mann and Khaira continued arguing and could be seen pointing fingers at each other as the proceedings of the house were disrupted.
The AAP MLAs also rose from their seats with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemning Khaira for his conduct and demanded action against him.
Cheema further alleged that Khaira "always tries to disturb the house" as he spoke about his conduct in the assembly.
The incident occurred as an official resolution on the revision of wages was presented at the special session by Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond who said it paid homage to labourers on the International Workers' Day.
"Workers are the axis of construction of the nation, the community, the state and society. Every construction project succeeds only through their blood and sweat," the resolution read.
As per the resolution, "The base rate of minimum wages for the working class in Punjab was last revised in the year 2012. Although the dearness allowance has continued to increase since 2012, there has been no increase in the base rate of minimum wages.
On this sacred occasion of May Day, in this special session of the legislative assembly, this house proposes to revise and increase the minimum wages of labourers and strongly recommends to the government to take a decision regarding the increase of minimum wages for workers, so that the contributions of the workers can be acknowledged." PRK
