Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das found himself at the center of a major controversy after posting an artificial intelligence-generated image on his official X account. The doctored image falsely presented a statement attributed to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national spokesperson and senior advocate Gaurav Bhatia, claiming that Bhatia had publicly denounced Swatantra Bharadwaj.

According to the fabricated graphic shared by Das, the false remark read: “Swatantra Bharadwaj is a ‘dimagi naxal’. He has the poison of casteism within him. The BJP has no connection with this individual,”

The misleading post was quickly amplified across social media platforms. Another CJP spokesperson, Ashutosh Ranka, reposted the visual from Das's account, adding the caption: “Paw paw has disowned the rowdy ones.”

The claims triggered an immediate response from Gaurav Bhatia, who categorically rejected the post as outright misinformation. Bhatia firmly denied having ever made such remarks, called out the falsification, and issued a strict 24-hour deadline for Das to pull down the post and tender a complete, unconditional public apology.

Backing Bhatia, the BJP issued a stern public warning to Das on social media, stating: “This is a fake post. You have 24 hours to delete and offer unconditional apology”.

Saurav Das removes tweet following Bhatia’s ultimatum

Facing mounting backlash, Das took down the post and publicly conceded that the graphic had been fabricated using AI tools. However, the deletion did not resolve the matter for Bhatia, who made it evident on X that simply erasing the false publication would not close the issue.

Emphasizing the brief window between his warning and the removal, Bhatia wrote: “It took only 83 minutes for the post to be deleted. Unqualified apology remains. Tomorrow will be a day of FIR if no unqualified apology is tendered. Can’t spread propaganda and then just delete and run.”

The incident has brought significant attention and scrutiny to the CJP spokespersons regarding the creation and distribution of AI-generated content to target political adversaries. Although the publication was removed within 83 minutes, Bhatia maintained his demand for an unconditional apology, warning that formal legal proceedings through a First Information Report (FIR) would follow if his demand was not met.

Who is Swatantra Bharadwaj?

This social media altercation unfolded amid an ongoing, wider legal conflict involving Swatantra Bharadwaj and the CJP. On Friday, 4th September, the Delhi Police detained Bharadwaj near Dhamra Nara village in the Bulandshahr district. This action took place just hours after police authorities had assured a visiting CJP delegation that Bharadwaj would be placed under arrest within a 72-hour timeframe.

The origins of this dispute trace back to an FIR registered by the Delhi Police against Bharadwaj over an alleged physical altercation during a CJP-organized protest at Jantar Mantar in June. The complaint alleged that Bharadwaj assaulted Sanjay Azad, the father of CJP activist Nishu Azad. Following the clash, CJP leaders had actively demanded strict legal action against Bharadwaj under relevant provisions governing attempt to murder as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The situation grew more contentious after Bharadwaj appeared on a podcast and acknowledged striking Sanjay Azad, later clarifying that his actions were taken strictly in self-defence after he was surrounded and assaulted by a violent mob of approximately 25 to 30 people.

Video footage that subsequently circulated across social media platforms corroborated that Bharadwaj had been mobbed and attacked by a crowd, with personnel from the Delhi Police seen stepping in to protect and rescue him. Concurrently, another video emerged showing Sanjay Azad stating that the injury to his own head had happened “unintentionally”, while also openly challenging Bharadwaj to a direct, one-on-one confrontation.