Jairam Ramesh said the 'Ravan' poster intended to incite and provoke violence against the former Congress chief whose father and grandmother were assassinated by forces that want to divide India.

NEW DELHI: 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".

इनकी डोर उसके हाथ में है..#Modani pic.twitter.com/zRQaLmhUu5

— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) October 6, 2023

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.

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam and party workers shout slogans during a protest against BJP over circulation of an alleged objectionable poster of Rahul Gandhi, in Mumbai. (PTI)

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.

Puppet in the hand of foreign powers… pic.twitter.com/PKeR0yhUmD

— BJP (@BJP4India) October 6, 2023

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 & the idea of INDIA. https://t.co/eEXAOWtlaY pic.twitter.com/xaTYJ59qxl

— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) October 5, 2023

"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.

यह कार्टून 1945 में अग्रणी पत्रिका में छपा था, जिसका सम्पादक नाथूराम गोडसे था। तीर चलाने वालों में एक सावरकर है। गांधी और कांग्रेस हमेशा से इनके निशाने पर रहे हैं, लेकिन न तब डरे थे, न आज डरे हैं और न ही आगे डरने वाले हैं। https://t.co/fyfiX2JtBz pic.twitter.com/HkuyYTrWke

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) October 5, 2023

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.