Congress, BJP spar over Sonia’s cartoon

RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress traded charges Friday over a cartoon appearing in the BJP state unit mouthpiece. The Congress says its party chief Sonia Gandhi has been depicted as a “witch”.

While the BJP rejected the charge, saying a cartoon on a cover-page that appeared in its monthly mouthpiece Deep Kamal has a reference of ‘mahangai daayan’ (inflation witch) and it is just symbolic and intended to highlight the rising prices across country.

“The cartoon had not mentioned the name of anyone, it is not meant to insult anyone, it is sketched out to highlight common peoples’ plight who are reeling under unbearable rising prices of essential commodities,” Sachitanand Upasane, state unit BJP vice-president, told reporters.

The Congress party, however, termed the cartoon “a reflection of sub-standard mentality of the BJP”.

“Displaying a cartoon in which a figure looks like my party chief as a ‘witch’ shows to what extent BJP can come down. It is designed to get cheap popularity for the magazine and it also reflects sub-standard mentality of the Chhattisgarh BJP,” Ramesh Varlyani, chief spokesperson of Chhattisgarh Congress, told reporters.