BJP leader and former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday called for the derecognition of the Congress party after its Kerala unit compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Muhammad bin Tughluq, the second sultan of the Tughluq dynasty, amid the ongoing poster war. Naqvi said that the alleged poster in question makes for a “fit case” for the poll panel to derecognise the Congress and impose a ban on it.

Taking to his official handle on X, formerly Twitter, the BJP leader posted, “Fit case for derecognition & Ban on Congress @ECISVEEP.”

The Congress’s Kerala unit had earlier come out with a poster putting Modi’s face on an image of Muhammed bin Tughlaq from textbooks, making the ruler look like the prime minister.

“Dear Pradhan Mantriji, if you are eager to update textbooks, replace the Tughlaq era with your own,” read the post on the official handle of the Congress Kerala on social media platform X.

The poster war intensified after the BJP in a social media post portrayed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as ‘Ravan’, the hydra-headed demon king from the epic ‘Ramayana’.

“The new age Ravan is here. He is Evil. Anti Dharma. Anti Ram. His aim is to destroy Bharat,” read the post on the BJP’s official handle.

Congress leaders were quick to condemn the comparison, with party MP Manickam Tagore labelling it as ‘unfortunate’.

“They are provoking people to resort to violence directed at Rahul Gandhi. We all know how he lost his father and grandmother to violence. Such promotional materials from a national party are unfortunate and condemnable,” Tagore told ANI.

He also demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president JP Nadda.

But the controversy didn’t stop there as the Congress’s official X handle shot back with a poster depicting Prime Minister Modi as a puppet of billionaire Gautam Adani.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were afraid of the rising popularity of Rahul Gandhi.

“The BJP, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are starting to fear Rahul Gandhi. This only goes to show that the BJP is heading for a defeat in the 2024 (Lok Sabha) elections. The (mythological) battle between Ram and Ravan was fought in this country. The BJP embodies the vices associated with Ravan the most,” Raut said.