Rahul Gandhi As Lord Parshuram On Poster: BJP Calls It Insult To Hindus

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi turned 56 on Friday. Birthday wishes for the Congress leader poured in from all quarters, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who wished him "good health" in a post on X.

While Congress leaders and workers celebrated Rahul Gandhi's birthday across the country, a controversy broke out over the celebrations by the Varanasi unit of the Youth Congress.

Youth Congress workers performed a puja on the banks of the Ganga, carrying a poster of Rahul Gandhi depicting him as Lord Parshuram. The poster showed the leader holding an axe in one hand and a copy of the Constitution of India in the other.

The Congress workers poured milk on the poster and performed a Rudrabhishek accompanied by Vedic chants. They also cut an 11-kg laddu cake and prayed for Rahul Gandhi's long, healthy, and successful life.

But the act of depicting Rahul Gandhi as Lord Parshuram sparked a political controversy, with the BJP attacking the Congress.

The party called the Congress workers' actions "unacceptable" and an insult to Lord Parshuram. "Congress leaders have lost their sense. Lord Parshuram is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It is simply impossible and incomprehensible to compare Rahul Gandhi with Lord Parshuram. Those who oppose Sanatan Dharma cannot even think of comparing themselves with Lord Parshuram," Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said.

BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said that Congress workers insulted Lord Parshuram. "For 364 days, Congress leaders insult Sanatan Dharma, and on one day they pretend to remember Lord Parshuram. People won't forget."

BJP leader Amit Malviya also slammed the Congress.

"Congress comparing Rahul Gandhi to Bhagwan Parashuram is not just absurd, it is a profound insult to Hindu faith and tradition. Bhagwan Parashuram is revered as the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, a symbol of courage, discipline, sacrifice, and dharma. To equate him with a politician whose public life has been marked by repeated electoral failures, political inconsistency, and a complete lack of accomplishment is an affront to millions of Hindus. Would Congress dare make similar comparisons involving figures sacred to other faiths? Or is disrespect reserved only for Hindu beliefs and icons? The real question is: why does Congress repeatedly trivialize and appropriate Hindu symbols for political messaging? Hindus deserve an answer," he wrote on X.

The Congress, however, defended the depiction. Vikas Singh, president of the Varanasi Youth Congress, who organised the puja on the Ganga, said: "These are our emotions towards our leader. The way Lord Parshuram rid the earth of evil, Rahul Gandhi is also fighting evil forces."

Congress spokesperson Alok Sharma, defending the puja, said, "Those who organised the event are themselves Brahmins and come from the lineage of Lord Parshuram. They just displayed their emotions."

Lord Parshuram is the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. Known as a "Brahma-Kshatriya" - possessing both Brahmin and Kshatriya traits - he is celebrated as a fierce warrior-sage who annihilated unrighteous kings to restore cosmic order. He is considered one of the seven Chiranjeevis (immortals) in Hindu mythology.