Rama Shankar Shukla, a Congress leader, allegedly portrayed Gandhi as Lord Rama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Ravana in one of the posters installed to welcome Congress chief in the district.

Rahul Gandhi in Amethi: Congress leaders are leaving no stone unturned to impress their boss Rahul Gandhi, who is on his first visit to his parliamentary constituency of Amethi after taking over as the party president. In the same row, a party worker put up a a poster which didn’t go down well with the BJP. Rama Shankar Shukla, a Congress leader, allegedly portrayed Gandhi as Lord Rama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Ravana in one of the posters installed to welcome Congress chief in the district.

The poster was seen at the Gauriganj railway station on December 14, a day before Rahul’s visit to the city. In the poster, Rahul was seen carrying a bow and an arrow, pointing towards Prime Minister Modi. Some of the local BJP leaders raised objections to the poster as soon as it appeared. Later, BJP leader Surya Prakash Tiwari lodged an FIR against Shukla.

In its inscription, the poster states Rahul as an incarnation of Lord Ram who will bring ‘Ram Rajya’ in 2019 by winning the General election, and defeating ‘Ravan’ Prime Minister Modi. “Rahul ke roop mein bhagwan Ram ka Avtaar 2019 mein aayega Rahulraj (Ramrajya)” read the wording on the poster.

The poster is said to be displayed by a local named Abhay Shukla, who claims to have no connection with the Congress party. “Prime Minister Modi promised us to bring black money back that is stashed abroad, but nothing happened. All the promises made by him were lies. We believe that in 2019, Rahul Gandhi will become the Prime Minister of the county and fulfill all the promises,” Shukla was quoted as saying by ANI. The district unit of the Congress party denied putting up the poster or any link with Shukla.

Earlier today, PTI reported that Gandhi faced protests from BJP workers when his convoy was leaving Salon, which falls in Amethi Lok Sabha constituency but is in Rae Bareli district.

Gandhi embarked on his visit to Amethi on Monday. The Congress chief has plans to touch each of the five Assembly segments that fall under it to interact with the public and party workers. Also, the party has made grand arrangements to make Gandhi’s visit a success.

On Sunday Congress leaders both in Lucknow and Amethi held day-long meetings to prepare, Indian Express reports. Among the arrangements, workers had planned to welcome Rahul with drum beats and a showering of petals.

A review meeting was also held by state party chief Raj Babbar to know about the preparations. In Lucknow alone, at least 16 welcome points have been planned by the party workers and leaders, some sources told The Indian Express.

Rahul Gandhi as ‘Lord Ram’ poster in Amethi lands this Congress leader in legal soup, FIR lodged; details here