Overview
- Youth Congress workers in Varanasi portrayed Rahul Gandhi as the Hindu figure Parshuram and performed a ritual milk ablution over his poster during his 56th birthday celebrations, an event captured on video that circulated on social platforms.
- BJP leaders including Amit Malviya and Shehzad Poonawalla condemned the depiction as an insult to Hindu faith and demanded an apology, framing it as appropriation and trivialisation of religious symbols for political messaging.
- Congress figures such as Kanhaiya Kumar rejected the BJP’s charge and challenged the party’s claim to Hindu icons while accusing BJP allies of mismanaging or misappropriating Ram temple donations.
- The Uttar Pradesh government’s creation of a three-member Special Investigation Team to probe donations and finances linked to the Ayodhya Ram temple is the main official development in the dispute and has been cited by Congress in its counter-accusations.
- The episode shows how a local political celebration quickly moved to national debate because of a viral video, and it could prompt further political attacks, possible legal complaints, and closer scrutiny of temple finances in the coming days.