Congress' 'mohabbat ki dukaan' video as online battle for 2024 hots up

The online battle for the 2024 general elections hotted up on Tuesday with the Congress releasing an animated video, showing the ruling BJP deploying divisive tactics and Rahul Gandhi taking down a 'nafrat ka bazaar' and replacing it with a 'mohabbat ki dukaan'.

The Congress' video, which portrays Gandhi as a uniting factor through his cross-country Bharat Jodo Yatra, comes months after the BJP released a short animated video showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi marching ahead in his mission to serve various sections of society and firmly on course to make India a five-trillion dollar economy.

In the 1:43 minutes video posted on the Congress' official Twitter handle, an animated character of Prime Minister Modi is seen driving a chariot with democracy, media and bureaucracy enchained on top of the vehicle.

The video also shows an animated character of Home Minister Amit Shah trying to drive a wedge between a Hindu and Muslim person with Rahul Gandhi making an entry and uniting the persons of the two communities.

As Gandhi walks along uniting people through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, tweaked lyrics of the iconic song 'kisi ki muskuraahaton pe ho nisaar' from Raj Kapoor-starrer Anari plays in the background.

The lines of the iconic song are tweaked in the end to say, "sabhi ke vaaste ho jiske dil mein pyaar, Gandhi usi ka naam hai." It shows Gandhi also travelling in a truck and as he passes a 'nafrat ka bazaar' board, it falls down and a 'mohaabat ki dukaan' is in the background.

The Congress tweeted the video with the words 'mohabbat ki dukaan'.

The video does not make any reference to elections but the online sparring between the Congress and the BJP has been hotting up with both sides trading barbs through their social media handles.

Rahul Gandhi had said during the Bharat Jodo Yatra that he is opening 'mohabbat ki dukanein (shops spreading love) in the 'nafrat ka bazaar (market of hate) and that has become the Congress' often-repeated refrain to describe its politics going forward.

BJP chief J P Nadda had hit back at Gandhi's 'mohabbat ki dukaan' pitch recently, saying that the former Congress president is not running any "shop of spreading love" but has opened a "mega shopping mall of hatred".

In its animated video in March titled "Mujhe Chalte Jaana Hai" (I have to keep walking), the BJP showed Modi's journey from Gujarat chief minister to becoming the prime minister amid barbs by Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mani Shankar Aiyar and Digvijaya Singh.

The video made no mention of the 2024 parliamentary elections and shows Modi climbing a flight of stairs past the 2014 and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections towards a five-trillion-dollar economy with a trademark jhola on the shoulder, walking past opposition leaders levelling allegations against him and unveiling government schemes for the poor after becoming prime minister.

Opposition leaders are shown shouting "maut ka saudagar", "chaiwallah", "chowkidar chor hai" and "Gautam Das" which seem to have no impact on Modi's journey.