• Source:JND
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The row over Rahul Gandhi's image on sanitary pad packets to be distributed in Bihar has taken the form of a legal battle as the Indian Youth Congress has filed police complaints across multiple states against what they termed as a "coordinated and defamatory" digital campaign aimed at defaming the Lok Sabha LoP and undermining the dignity of women.

The IYC has alleged that the campaign involved a 'doctored image and vulgar video' linked to the Congress's initiative in Bihar. The IYC has called the sanitary pad distribution part of a social welfare initiative led by Gandhi.

In the purported video, Gandhi's picture is visible on a sanitary pad, which drew massive criticism initially before Congress termed it a doctored image.The Youth Congress targeted the BJP for allegedly manufacturing fake narratives to divert public attention.

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The Youth Congress has claimed that the content was first circulated on social media by an individual and was subsequently shared by other prominent accounts.

The Youth Congress has accused these individuals of spreading misleading and offensive content with the intent to discredit Gandhi through a "digital propaganda cloaked in misogyny".

These 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. In Bengaluru, the FIR has been registered at High Grounds police station. 

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. An FIR has also been filed in Telangana.

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reacting to the controversy, Youth Congress national president Chib said that weaponising menstruation to score political points reflected a deep-rooted misogyny.

“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

(With PTI Inputs)