BJP Calls INDIA Bloc Delhi Rally Flop, Disputes 10 Lakh Claim

The BJP and the Congress are locked in a bitter dispute over the turnout at the INDIA bloc's rally in Delhi, with the ruling party calling the event a flop and the opposition insisting it drew a massive crowd. The debate intensified after Union Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of using an AI-generated image to exaggerate attendance.

The rally was held at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday and was organised to demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. On Monday, Rijiju said the Congress had used artificial intelligence to show a packed ground, and claimed the party had not even managed to make its fake image look realistic.

In a post on X, Rijiju shared a photograph posted by a Congress MP from Telangana showing a massive gathering at the opposition rally. Several social media users, however, questioned the authenticity of the picture and said it appeared to be AI-generated. They also pointed to AI images of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi on the stage, which, according to them, did not match the actual venue.

On Sunday itself, the BJP had dismissed the rally as a flop show and claimed that the crowd was far from the numbers the opposition had projected. It rejected the Congress claim that 10 lakh people had attended, and alleged that Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the dynastic party had failed to fill Ramlila Maidan.

BJP MP Sambit Patra held a press conference after the rally and showed a video from the venue. He said about 40 percent of Ramlila Maidan was empty, as visible in the background of the footage.

Patra further claimed that between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm, around 5,000 to 7,000 of the 28,000 chairs set up at the venue were empty. According to him, these numbers were the actual reality behind the Congress's 10 lakh attendance claim.

He also connected the rally controversy to the Congress criticism of the special intensive revision of voter lists. Patra said the party kept asserting that votes had been removed and asked what the total numbers really showed. He recalled that Rahul Gandhi had said his 10 lakh voters would be present at the rally.

Patra argued that the event had exposed the Congress's claims and accused the party of using trick photography to show a large presence of people.