By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 22 Dec: A controversy triggered by an AI-generated video targeting former Chief Minister Harish Rawat has sparked a sharp political confrontation between the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand. The episode has added a new dimension to the state’s political discourse. Harish Rawat has threatened that he will lodge a criminal FIR in this case and launch protests if the video is not withdrawn. Rawat has described the episode as a deliberate and malicious misuse of technology.
Although the Uttarakhand Assembly elections are scheduled for next year, the political activity has intensified much earlier, particularly on digital platforms. It may be reminded here that the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), memes and stylised content against political opponents has now become a discernible trend across India, with almost all major parties employing such tools to shape narratives and target rivals. In this context, the video at the centre of the current controversy is being seen as part of this broader national pattern of political communication in the digital age. Various official accounts of Congress and senior Congress leaders regularly post such AI generated content on social media. One such AI video depicting PM Modi selling tea at an international event had gone particularly viral and generated a lot of controversy.
While AI-generated political satire and synthetic videos have been circulating at the national level for some time, their appearance in Uttarakhand politics has drawn heightened attention. It may be recalled that this particular video has been shared from the official X handle of the Uttarakhand BJP. However, it very clearly appears to be an AI-generated creation and the BJP has made no attempt to present it as genuine footage. The clip bears the character of a political meme, similar in style and tone to the satirical and exaggerated content routinely posted by several official Congress social media handles across the country.
The video accuses Harish Rawat and the Congress of Muslim appeasement and alleges that the Congress party had attempted to alter the demography of Devbhoomi Uttarakhand for vote-bank politics. Using Rawat’s likeness and voice, the AI-generated visuals depict him chanting slogans linked to appeasement, interspersed with images of religious structures. The clip concludes with the entry of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami alongside a bulldozer, accompanied by the caption “Wake up to Reality”. The accompanying post asserted that under the BJP government, illegal infiltrators would be identified and expelled.
The AI video has caused considerable disquiet within the Congress, with Harish Rawat describing it as a dangerous misuse of artificial intelligence. He has demanded its immediate removal, warning that failure to do so would compel him to file a criminal FIR, approach the Election Commission and stage a seven-day sit-in protest outside the BJP state headquarters. He has further stated that if no apology is tendered and the post remains online, he would move the court and undertake a state-wide Nyay Yatra.
In a sharp counter-offensive, Harish Rawat accused the BJP of practicing politics rooted in falsehoods, asserting that such methods would no longer be tolerated. He remarked that while the Congress may be temporarily unemployed, he would ensure that the BJP becomes permanently unemployed in Uttarakhand. However, despite these warnings, the video continues to remain on BJP social media platforms and can still be easily assessed on the official X account of Uttarakhand BJP.
