New Delhi: A seemingly harmless AI-generated retro photo trend featuring politicians has escalated into a full-blown confrontation, with the Congress party initiating legal action against social media handles of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP, the opposition party alleged, has reduced political rhetoric to misogyny, personal attacks and character assassination.
It all started after the Congress’s Kerala unit shared an AI-generated image of what it called an 1980s-style street in Gujarat, purportedly showing Union Home Minister Amit Shah sitting inside a van.
Another altered image showed PM Narendra Modi at a railway station sneakily taking a passenger’s wallet. The Congress has previously targeted Modi over his past and political career which had also turned into a political slugfest.
Gujarat has long been central to the BJP’s political narrative. The Congress has frequently targeted the BJP over its record in Gujarat, including over the 2002 riots and the political narrative built around ‘The Gujarat model of development’.
Not to sit back, the BJP state handles began sharing AI-generated, vintage-style images targeting former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. One such image depicted a woman resembling Sonia at a bar surrounded by male politicians.
Another post showed a woman with a hairstyle resembling the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson, alongside alcohol and politicians, accompanied by the caption: ‘Head office of some old political party in 1960’s’.
BJP units in Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana subsequently shared similar vintage-style AI images depicting women at bars. One such image was labelled, ‘Lusiana, Italy. Circa-1970s’, appearing to reference Sonia Gandhi’s birthplace.
One of the suggestive posts carried the caption: ‘You can make cartoons using AI, but you can never make a cartoon about the Prime Minister. Theft and robbery are in Congress’s DNA. Theft of the Prime Minister’s post, Theft of the ‘Gandhi’ surname, Theft of money meant for the rights of the people.’
Some of the explicit images targeting the former Congress president were subsequently deleted.
The Congress has now said it is taking legal action against those responsible for the posts. ”The @BJP4India through its official social media handles seems to hit a new low every time, particularly when the subject is women,” the IYC Legal Cell said in a post
The @BJP4India through its official social media handles seems to hit a new low every time, particularly when the subject is women.
The coordinated trolling, misogyny and personal attacks often go far beyond political disagreement, reducing serious issues concerning women to an…
— IYC Legal Cell (@IYCLegalCell) September 11, 2026
“The coordinated trolling, misogyny and personal attacks often go far beyond political disagreement, reducing serious issues concerning women to an arena for abuse and character assassination,” it said, adding that legal action was initiated against those responsible.
“Political differences are legitimate; targeted harassment and attacks on a woman’s dignity are not. We will continue to respond firmly, legally and without intimidation.”
The All India Mahila Congress has also filed a complaint against the Gujarat BJP’s official X handle over AI generated images of Sonia Gandhi. Mahila Congress general secretary M. Kamalakshi Rajanna filed the complaint, alleging that the image was offensive and sexually inappropriate.
Congress leader Pawan Khera also criticised the BJP over the posts. “The kind of sexist and misogynistic content official BJP handles have posted all day is a damning commentary on their own primitivity, cruelty and intellectual rot,” he posted on X.
“The ultimate admission of their defeat, since they have no argument left, they attack the character instead, after all, those who can’t match you can only resort to defaming you.”
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke also took a dig at the BJP. “Misogyny is the last resort for men who lack wit & humour,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)