Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 2: A political war of words has erupted between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress over the number of people who attended the INDIA bloc rally at Ramlila Maidan, with BJP leaders accusing the opposition party of exaggerating crowd figures through manipulated artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that the Congress had circulated poorly created AI-generated pictures to give the impression that a much larger crowd had gathered at the rally. He questioned the opposition's claims about the turnout and accused it of attempting to create a misleading picture of public support.

The controversy intensified after the Congress projected that around 10 lakh people would attend the rally. However, the permitted capacity of Ramlila Maidan was capped at 50,000, raising questions from BJP leaders over the gap between the projected attendance and the venue's capacity.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also targeted the Congress over its crowd claims, asking where the alleged 10 lakh attendees were. He argued that manipulated photographs and camera angles could not change the political reality or help anyone become the Prime Minister.

Patra also referred to drone footage of the venue, claiming that several chairs remained unoccupied during speeches. He alleged that the Congress had attempted to present an inflated picture of the gathering through selective visuals.

Ground reports indicated that a sizeable number of people had gathered at Ramlila Maidan during the early hours of the rally. However, the BJP maintained that the Congress had exaggerated the turnout and pointed to empty chairs visible in footage taken later in the afternoon.

The dispute over attendance has added another layer to the political confrontation between the BJP and the Congress, with both sides seeking to project the rally as an indication of their respective political strength.