Controversy erupts over Rahul Gandhi's image on sanitary pads

Amid a row over Rahul Gandhi's image on sanitary pad packets to be distributed in Bihar, the Indian Youth Congress has filed police complaints in multiple states against a "coordinated and defamatory" digital campaign allegedly aimed at defaming the Congress leader and undermining the dignity of women.

The IYC has claimed that the campaign involved a "doctored image and vulgar video" linked to the Congress' sanitary pad distribution drive in Bihar, which was part of a social welfare initiative led by Gandhi.

In the video, Gandhi's picture is shown on a sanitary pad, which has angered the Congress. The IYC alleged that the BJP was manufacturing fake narratives to divert public attention.

According to IYC leaders on Monday, the content was first circulated on social media by an individual and was subsequently shared by other prominent accounts.

The IYC has accused these individuals of spreading offensive and misleading content with the intention of politicising a gender-sensitive issue and discrediting Gandhi through what it describes as “digital propaganda cloaked in misogyny”.

Complaints have been filed in multiple states under the supervision of IYC national in-charge Krishna Allavaru, national president Uday Bhanu Chib, and legal cell chairman Roopesh Singh Bhadauria.

According to the Youth Congress, an FIR has been registered at High Grounds police station in Bengaluru under relevant sections of BNS, including sections 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 294 (obscene acts or words in public), and 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), along with Section 67 of the IT Act.

In Delhi, a complaint has been filed at Mandir Marg police station, and another has been submitted via the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal by Delhi Youth Congress legal cell chairman Vivek Punia. Similarly, in Telangana, an FIR has been filed.

IYC national president Chib said that weaponising menstruation to score political points reflected a deep-rooted misogyny. He alleged that the BJP was manufacturing fake narratives to divert public attention and discredit the Opposition.

“This is a new low. Turning a public service initiative into vulgar propaganda is not only unethical but legally punishable. Disinformation is not free speech— it is criminal speech,” Chib said, adding that the IYC would ensure strict legal consequences for those involved.

The IYC has urged law enforcement agencies to take swift and stringent action against the accused and has stated that further legal remedies under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act will be explored to ensure accountability.

Meanwhile, the Congress said in a post on X in Hindi, "Rahul Gandhi helped the women of Bihar, and the BJP got rattled. In this agitation, the BJP misled people through its FAKE news factory and insulted the sisters and daughters of the state. The women of Bihar will not forget this insult and will give a befitting reply." On July 4, the Congress in Bihar said it would distribute free sanitary napkins among five lakh women, but ended up drawing flak from the ruling NDA over photographs of Gandhi on the packets.

JD(U) MLC and spokesman Neeraj Kumar took strong exception to photographs of Gandhi on the packets and alleged "the Congress seems to have taken a leaf out of the book of its ally RJD, which has been known for a lumpen style of politics".

Echoing similar views, BJP spokesman Kuntal Krishna alleged, "...the Congress, which is worried about its prospects in the upcoming assembly polls, has shown its ideological bankruptcy. Its leader Rahul Gandhi has been notorious for lacking a sense of propriety. The trait seems to have afflicted the party, in which sycophancy reigns supreme."