Karnataka BJP attack on Priyank Kharge over AI image of Unnao rape-accused sparks online war: Here is why

The Karnataka wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and state IT minister Priyank Kharge have been at war on X (formerly Twitter) since Friday afternoon.

The online fight began with Kharge's now-deleted satirical post against the BJP's 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme.

The post contained what Kharge later admitted "may have been" an AI-generated image of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar—who is serving a life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case—being felicitated by his party members outside the Tihar Jail.

This was a reference to the Delhi High Court granting bail to Sengar, against which the CBI has petitioned in the Supreme Court.

Karnataka BJP instantly retaliated, highlighting the irony behind an IT minister and "self-proclaimed 'fact-checker'" sharing a "malicious" AI-generated image on social media.

The party also claimed that he ignored crucial facts in the case, such as the fact that Sengar's relief was court-mandated, and that he was violating the Congress government's Hate Speech Bill.

Reacting to the post, which he called an "inadvertent oversight", Kharge hit back at the party, accusing it of continuing to "honour and shield perpetrators".

"If you can't distinguish between Real and AI, God knows what you will be doing for Bengaluru's IT ecosystem," the Karnataka BJP again wrote in response.

"Apologise unconditionally for mocking the Judiciary and women!" the BJP added in its follow-up barb, warning Kharge that he was the IT minister, and not a "casual user".

Kharge, however, refused to back down, launching a two-post attack against the BJP that has not yet received a direct response from the latter.

"So, you have an issue with an AI image, but no issue with a rape accused walking free?" he questioned in the first post, attacking the RSS for shielding heinous crimes.

He then alleged in the next post that the Modi government had engaged in a "money heist", and that public sector banks had "written off Rs 6.15 lakh crore in loans in the last five years".

"The biggest beneficiaries have been the same large corporate friends of Modiji whose bad loans quietly disappear from the books while common citizens are chased for every rupee," he added.

The Karnataka BJP, meanwhile, has only made general posts attacking Congress's rule in Karnataka completing one year, indicating that the online feud may be over for now.