Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 22 : A poster showing Lord Hanuman blessing Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, who is depicted sitting before the deity with folded hands, surfaced outside the party office in Lucknow on Tuesday, a day after a series of posters targeting the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister with images of Atiq Ahmed, Azam Khan and Mukhtar Ansari appeared across the state.
The latest poster carries the message "Vijay Bhav 2027", portraying Akhilesh Yadav in a devotional setting and invoking the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
The poster comes amid an emerging political poster war in Uttar Pradesh, where political activity has intensified ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. On Monday, posters targeting Akhilesh Yadav were reported from Lucknow and several other cities, including Ghazipur, Ambedkar Nagar, Moradabad, Unnao, Etawah, Sitapur, Bareilly, Meerut and Azamgarh.
Those posters featured pictures of former SP leaders Atiq Ahmed, Azam Khan and Mukhtar Ansari alongside Akhilesh Yadav and carried slogans linking the SP chief with alleged "mafia" elements. The posters also targeted the previous SP government over issues related to law and order and alleged criminal-political links. The identity of those who put up the posters was not officially established, and in some places they were subsequently removed by local residents or SP workers.
Meanwhile, the contest between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday degenerated into a high-octane visual battle marked by AI-generated deepfakes, satirical video campaigns, and intense debates over symbolic political colours.
Addressing a press conference at the SP headquarters in Lucknow, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav directly targeted the BJP for deploying generative AI as a tool for political mudslinging.
"AI should be used for constructive purposes, not for wrongdoing. The BJP has a negative mindset, which is why it is misusing it," Yadav asserted, criticising the ruling party's media strategy.
Yadav argued that the BJP's reliance on digital attacks stems from its failure to address core governance issues.
"They are engaging only in negative work. The government has made no concrete arrangements towards inflation, unemployment, investment, addressing farmers' problems, resolving stray cattle issues, or improving the financial condition of our weaver brothers," Yadav stated, accusing the BJP of attempting to divert public attention.