New Delhi, Oct 05 (IANS): The Congress on Thursday slammed the BJP after the saffron party released a poster of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on its official X handle, depicting him as Ravan.

The Congress said that the poster is "clearly intended to incite violence" against the leader, whose father former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and late grandmother Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were assassinated by forces that wanted to divide India.

In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “What is the real intent of an atrocious graphic portraying @RahulGandhi 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.”

Ramesh said, “It is one thing for the Prime Minister 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.” “We will not be intimidated,” the Rajya Sabha MP added.

The BJP’s post on X with a poster of Rahul Gandhi with 10 heads, was also shared by the party’s IT department chief Amit Malviya on his X profile.

Following the BJP’s post, Congress leader Imran Pratapgarhi hit back at the saffron party saying that they were nervous due to the growing popularity of the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad.

Speaking to the media at the party headquarters, Pratapgarhi, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP said, “This is the nervousness of the BJP after sensing its defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

He said that the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) is making baseless allegations and same is the case with the BJP leaders.

“Since the formation of the INDIA bloc, they are in a state of panic. Calling Rahul Gandhi Ravan, shows their desperation. People of the country knows what Rahul Gandhi is, he understands the pain of the people. He is standing with the people of Manipur, with vegetable vendors and bike mechanics. And if you call someone who is spending time among the public, then this shows how much fear you have. This is shameful,” the Congress leader, who is also the chief of the minority department said.

Targeting the BJP, Pratapgarhi said that people have understood the pain of the BJP.

“The acceptance of the INDIA bloc has increased and with Rahul Gandhi coming into active mode, the BJP has got even more desperate. It is the reason why the Prime Minister is calling the INDIA bloc a ‘rusted iron’, ‘ghamandiya’ (arrogant) alliance, and also comparing it with terror outfits. This all shows the nervousness of the BJP and the Prime Minister,” he added.