New Delhi: India’s ‘Grand Old Party’ seems to have landed itself on a sticky wicket by circulating the image of a man in kurta-pajama-with no head on its official ‘X’ handle. There is only one word with the image – ‘Gayab’.
It didn’t take too long for netizens to realise that this was a jibe by the Congress aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his absence from the All Party Meeting convened by the Government after the Pahalgam terror strike on April 22 that killed 26 persons, mostly tourists from across the country. The Congress had raised this issue earlier.
While there was considerable mirth in Pakistan after the post went viral in that country, social media users in India were not laughing.
“Congress posted this to score points over the Pahalgam incident. Not cool. Not clever. Just crass,” an user posted on ‘X’.
Another user posted: “Showing the PM without a head during wartime? Offensive. BJP should sue. Pakistan posts stuff like this, and now Congress is doing the same?”
Another said: “They’re playing meme wars during a national emergency. What’s next? An Instagram Reel blaming the Army?”
Others pointed to the party’s poor political judgment. “This is the bottom of the barrel,” one user wrote, while another stated: “You’re dog-whistling to your vote bank. This is practically a coded threat. Pakistan and Congress-same template, same Photoshop skills?”
A particularly savage one read: “Shameful post! Congress is already in free fall. At this rate, they’ll be a museum exhibit, not a political party.”
The BJP has also not let the matter be. The party’s IT Cell incharge Amit Malviya has posted: “The Congress leaves little doubt with its use of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ imagery. This is not merely a political statement; it is a dog whistle aimed at its Muslim votebank and a veiled incitement against the Prime Minister. This is not the first time the Congress has resorted to such tactics.”
“Rahul Gandhi, on multiple occasions, has instigated and justified violence towards the Prime Minister. Yet, the Congress will never succeed, for the Prime Minister enjoys the love and blessings of millions of Indians. On the contrary, proverbially speaking, if anyone’s neck has been slashed, it is the Congress – now reduced to a headless hydra, flailing without direction,” Malviya has added.
