Poster declaring Rahul Gandhi as next PM, Ajay Rai as UP CM comes up in Lucknow

The development comes days after a similar poster declaring SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as the ‘future Prime Minister’ surfaced outside the party's Lucknow office.

A hoarding portraying Congress former president Rahul Gandhi as prime minister in 2024 and Uttar Pradesh unit's chief Ajay Rai as state's chief minister in 2027 surfaced outside the party's Lucknow office on Thursday. The poster has been put up by a party worker Thakur Nitant Singh Nitin, news agency ANI reported.

A banner hoarding, portraying party MP Rahul Gandhi as the PM in 2024 and state Congress chief Ajay Rai as CM in 2027, comes up near the party office in Lucknow (ANI)

The poster also included the goals and policies of the Congress party.

The development comes days after a similar poster declaring Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as the 'future Prime Minister' of India surfaced outside the party's office in Lucknow, to which BJP had reacted and termed it as "daydreaming".

However, Yadav had dismissed the posters' claim saying that no one is going to become the prime minister just by putting posters. “No one is going to become the Prime Minister just by putting posters. If any supporter has put up a poster, he is expressing what he wants. The goal of Samajwadis is to stop BJP”, ANI quoted the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister as saying.

The poster war has triggered tension between the Congress and Samajawadi Party, the two key members of the opposition newly formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc.

Both the parties have entered a fresh spat after Rai announced that he would go to meet jailed SP leader Azam Khan who is in Sitapur jail after he and his son were convicted in the fake marksheet case.

However, the move hasn't gone down well with the SP and Yadav questioned the Congress for not supporting Azam Khan when he was being targeted by the administration. "Where was the Congress when Azam Khan was being targeted, the leaders of the Congress were in-fact targeting Azam Khan," Yadav had said.

The parties have also been irked over the seat sharing arrangement for Madhya Pradesh assembly elections scheduled to take place on November 25. The war of words intensified last week when Yadav alleged that some Congress leaders are siding with the BJP adding that he would not have trusted the grand old party if he had known that "Congress would betray them".

Read here: Kamal Nath says 'chhodo Akhilesh Vakhilesh' as SP vs Congress intensifies

Meanwhile, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath gave a curt reply when asked about allegations of betrayal against Congress. "Are bhai chhodo Akhilesh Vakhilesh (leave questions on Akhilesh)," he said. Additionally Ajay Rai accused SP of "directly or indirectly" helping BJP. He said if SP wanted to stop BJP in its tracks, it would have to support the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

(With inputs from agencies)