The social media platform X, which was previously known to the world as Twitter, recently witnessed the sudden deactivation of the account belonging to Nidhi Mittal Bansal. She is widely recognized not only as the wife of Peyush Bansal—the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the prominent eyewear brand Lenskart—but also as the Chairperson of the Lenskart Foundation. Her online profile abruptly vanished from the internet after a series of her old digital posts started circulating once again.

These resurfaced messages, which were highly critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have sparked a massive and fresh wave of controversy across the internet.

The screenshots of these older posts, which quickly went viral among netizens, can be traced back to the time period spanning between the years 2013 and 2015. In these digital snapshots, Nidhi Mittal Bansal can be clearly seen voicing her strong support for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). While cheering for the AAP, she simultaneously posted harsh and pointed remarks directed at the BJP and various Hindu organizations. A closer look at the posts reveals the use of specific political hashtags to emphasize her points, most notably "#vote4mufflerman" and "#DelhiDecides". In addition to using these tags, she openly criticized the Hindu Mahasabha and made several derogatory comments regarding the BJP. As these screen grabs began to spread like wildfire across different social media platforms, drawing the attention and ire of countless users, her official handle (@nidhimittal13) suddenly became completely inaccessible. This abrupt disappearance strongly suggests that the profile was taken down by the user in the face of rapidly growing public anger and severe, mounting backlash.

This sudden online disappearance of his wife's profile could not have happened at a more difficult time for Peyush Bansal. The Lenskart CEO is already finding himself squarely in the middle of a massive public storm. He is currently facing intense and widespread scrutiny from the public regarding a highly controversial company style guide that appeared to actively discriminate against the use of traditional Hindu religious symbols in the workplace.

Lenskart Controversy: Shifting From Rejection to Acceptance

The entire corporate uproar initially started when a detailed, 23-page internal company document made its way onto the internet. This specific document carried the title, "Lenskart Staff Uniform and Grooming Guide". According to the details visibly reported on the leaked file, it was dated February 2, 2026. The primary purpose of this manual was to lay down strict grooming and appearance rules for all the employees working at the company. However, instead of simply setting standard dress codes, it instantly ignited a massive wave of public outrage due to its highly unequal treatment of different religious symbols worn by the staff.

The guidelines presented in the document were incredibly specific and quite restrictive for certain groups. It explicitly stated that workers were completely prohibited from wearing traditional bindis or any sacred religious threads, which are commonly known as kalava. Furthermore, employees were strictly ordered to take off any religious wristbands they might be wearing, framing this removal as a necessary and mandatory part of the company's official grooming standards.

In stark contrast to these outright bans, the very same manual openly permitted the wearing of other religious attire, such as the hijab and the turban. The only major condition attached to these items was a strict colour specification, specifically mandating a "mandatory black colour" for them. The document went even further into personal grooming territory by advising women who wear traditional vermilion, or sindoor, that it must only be applied very lightly and sparingly. It strictly instructed that the sindoor must not be spread prominently across the forehead. This glaring asymmetry—where traditional Hindu symbols were heavily restricted and treated as clear violations of grooming standards, while Islamic and Sikh attire were openly accommodated with basic colour rules—became the absolute centre and core of the massive public backlash against the eyewear giant.

Peyush Bansal's Statements Face Intense Examination

As the anger from the public continued to boil over, Peyush Bansal felt compelled to address the growing crisis head-on. On April 15, the CEO released an official statement in an attempt to calm the waters. In his initial response, he quickly dismissed the viral 23-page document, labelling it as completely "inaccurate". He firmly claimed that the leaked grooming guide did not, in any way, represent or reflect the current operating policies of Lenskart.

However, this defensive claim was very quickly called into question by the vigilant digital community. A 'Community Note'—a built-in feature on the X platform used to add necessary context and fact-check posts—appeared directly beneath his statement. This community-generated note sharply pointed out that the controversial document clearly displayed a recent date of February 2026, alongside official company branding and logos. This hard evidence strongly indicated that the manual was, in fact, neither an outdated relic of the past nor a misrepresented fake.

Faced with this undeniable proof, Bansal was forced to quickly revise his public stance. In a follow-up message posted on the platform, he finally acknowledged the reality of the situation, admitting that the document was indeed authentic. However, he attempted to downplay its significance by describing it merely as an "outdated internal training document", rather than a fully enforced, official Human Resources policy. He went on to admit that the specific rule restricting the wearing of a bindi and tilak was a major mistake, stating clearly that it "should never have been written". To reassure the public, he claimed that this highly offensive line had already been completely removed from their internal systems back on February 17.

Trying to salvage the brand's reputation, he added that as the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the company, he personally takes full responsibility for this unfortunate lapse in judgment. He then firmly reiterated to his audience that Lenskart, as an organization, absolutely does not and will never prohibit any form of respectful religious expression by its team members.

Doubts Remain Despite Given Explanations

Even with the CEO's public apology out in the open, numerous inconsistencies are keeping the fires of concern burning bright. A major logical flaw stands out to many observers: if the offensive guidelines had truly been scrubbed from the system on February 17, people are demanding to know why a version visibly dated February 2026 was still being actively handed out and circulated among the employees. Furthermore, the corporation has completely failed to publish any corrected or updated version of the policy for the general public to review. This glaring lack of transparency is leaving a massive gap in trust, right at a crucial moment when the faith of their consumer base is already severely strained and hanging by a thread.

To make matters even more complicated for the brand, multiple users across social media networks have now come forward with new allegations. They have publicly stated that internal company audits conducted in the month of March clearly reveal that the organization actually continued to actively discriminate against employees who chose to sport a traditional tilak or a bindi at work. These fresh, unaddressed revelations have only served to stoke the flames of outrage even further, making it clear that the public's questions are far from being fully answered.