The politics of abuse: How stray words turn into a national controversy

A stray comment at the fag end of a rally has spiralled into yet another political flashpoint. At a Congress–RJD gathering addressed by Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, the speeches had concluded, lights had been switched off, the leaders had departed and the workers were packing up — when an unidentified voice seized the microphone to hurl offensive remarks.

The episode might have slipped into oblivion; but that within hours, a video clip of the comments surfaced on social media. The footage was not first reported by journalists present at the rally — it appeared directly in the hands of the BJP’s formidable digital army.

What followed was less a political debate and more a spectacle of narrative building.

Overnight, the remarks of an unknown individual were reframed as an orchestrated affront from the Congress stage itself. BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya was among the first to circulate the clip, presenting it as proof of Rahul Gandhi’s complicity.

“Even Zomato doesn’t deliver this fast,” quipped one political observer, capturing how quickly the disruption became a national controversy.

A scripted outrage

By the next morning, BJP ministers, MPs and MLAs had tweeted near-identical condemnations. Hashtags trended, posters and slickly designed graphics flooded timelines, and news channels amplified the outrage. The speed and coordination resembled a marketing blitz more than a political response.

Analysts argue this reflects the BJP’s mastery of digital propaganda. Carefully managed outrage cycles, they say, are now central to the party’s communication strategy. What once required weeks of sloganeering and press conferences can today be manufactured and magnified overnight.

The FIR against Rahul Gandhi

The controversy escalated further when police registered an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of allowing abusive words to be spoken “from his stage”.

The Congress has rejected the charge, stressing that Gandhi neither spoke nor endorsed the remarks.

But the episode underlines a recurring tactic in Indian politics: guilt by proximity. If offensive words are uttered anywhere near an Opposition rally, the leader is held accountable. Critics note that this logic rarely extends to ruling party figures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has shared platforms with politicians facing serious criminal allegations, without facing legal scrutiny. In Karnataka, for instance, Modi clasped the hand of Prajwal Revanna — accused of myriad instances of sexual misconduct — while seeking votes, an act that drew no FIRs, nor police action.

When Modi’s own words turn abusive

The present outrage also glosses over the the prime minister’s own history of disparaging remarks.

Over the years, Modi has made multiple statements that many saw as sexist, belittling or personally demeaning:

• Sonia Gandhi: In 2025, Modi accused Sonia Gandhi of insulting President Droupadi Murmu by describing her speech as “boring” and “tired”. The BJP turned the criticism into a charge of disrespect to tribal communities

• Rahul Gandhi: Modi has repeatedly mocked Gandhi as a dynastic lightweight, often using belittling nicknames to question his impact and relevance

• Sunanda Pushkar: In 2012, Modi labelled Shashi Tharoor’s late wife Sunanda Pushkar a “Rs 50-crore girlfriend”, a remark condemned as sexist and degrading. Pushkar herself called it “downright disgusting”

• Renuka Chowdhury: In the Rajya Sabha, Modi mocked Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury’s laughter, likening it to a demoness in the Ramayana. The jibe was widely slammed as invalidating and demonising women.

Such episodes, critics argue, reveal the double standards of Indian politics: When opposition figures are linked to offensive speech, it becomes grounds for police cases; when similar or harsher language comes from the prime minister, it is packaged as ‘strong leadership’.

From debate to event management

The controversy points to a deeper transformation in India’s political culture. Issues like unemployment, inflation and agrarian distress are often sidelined in favour of carefully managed spectacles.

“Politics is no longer spontaneous; it’s a production,” observes a Delhi-based political scientist. “An incident is magnified, outrage is choreographed and mainstream media completes the loop. By the time the Opposition responds, the narrative is already set.”

The formula is strikingly consistent: Identify a comment, strip it of context, frame it as an attack on the nation or its values, and flood social media until it dominates prime-time news.

Social media as the new battlefield

Underlying this shift is the dominance of social media in shaping perception. Traditional ground reporting has taken a backseat; now, carefully edited clips with captions dictate public discourse.

The BJP’s IT Cell is widely considered the most organised political digital machine in India, capable of pushing hashtags to trend nationwide within hours. Its network of volunteers, designers and content managers gives it an unmatched advantage in the perception war.

The Congress, by contrast, remains weaker in terms of digital mobilisation. Its campaigns lack the speed, cohesion and amplification that the BJP operations achieve almost routinely. In a landscape where perception equals power, this asymmetry has become decisive.

The disappearing space for dissent

More troubling, critics argue, is how controversies like this obscure genuine issues. Whenever Rahul Gandhi raises questions on defence recruitment reforms, crony capitalism or farmers’ protests, the BJP pivots attention to controversies over stray remarks.

“The real crime in today’s politics is not abusing — it is asking questions,” says a senior commentator. Manufactured outrage serves as a smokescreen, ensuring debates over governance are drowned out by noise.

Verdict: Abuse as political weapon

In the end, the row illustrates how abuse has been transformed from an outburst into a political weapon. It hardly matters who spoke the words or in what context. What matters is how quickly they can be weaponised, reframed and broadcast.

Meanwhile, urgent concerns — rural distress, joblessness, healthcare, inequality — slip further out of the spotlight.

The BJP’s narrative casts Narendra Modi as a lone warrior against a hostile Opposition, while painting rivals less as political challengers or, more, as villains in a staged drama.

For leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav, insisting on sticking to questions rather than abuses may be their chosen strategy — but in a political culture where perception trumps policy, it may also be their toughest challenge.

Hasnain Naqvi is a former member of the history faculty at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai