ISLAMABAD: India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has publicly rebuked several opposition leaders through an Islamophobic “movie poster” shared on X, accusing them of being sympathetic to Muslims and “intruders.”
The mock poster, posted by the official BJP Delhi account, features India’s Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party founder and national convener Arvind Kejriwal, and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav wearing Muslim skullcaps.
The image is titled “Ghuspaithiyon Ke Bhaijaan” and includes the captions “Directed by: Rahul Gandhi,” “Produced by: Mamata Banerjee,” and “Supporting Role: Arvind Kejriwal.” It was shared alongside the message: “The most trouble from SIR is faced by these sympathizers of the intruders.”
The post comes amid growing criticism from opposition parties over the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list.
Rahul Gandhi, in a statement on X, had earlier questioned why the BJP had raised no objections to the revision process. “Why doesn't BJP have any complaints against SIR? Haven't the names of their voters been deleted?” he wrote.
“So far in this journey, I've met thousands of such people whose names have been removed from the voter list in SIR — mostly poor, Dalits, backward classes, minorities, farmers, and laborers.” Gandhi further alleged that “It's absolutely clear — EC and BJP are working together to erase the opposition's votes.”
According to Indian media, the second phase of SIR is being implemented across 12 states and territories, including Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Earlier this year, a similar revision took place in Bihar ahead of its November 6 state elections.
The process resulted in the removal of approximately 6.5 million names, which the ECI stated was necessary to prevent the inclusion of “foreign illegal immigrants,” according to AFP.
