Rahul Gandhi with actors Akanksha Puri and Rashami Desai during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Maharashtra, Nitesh Rane, has alleged the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi is "stage-managed" and actors are being paid to walk with him, a claim dismissed by Congress as a "malicious propaganda" to discredit the yatra.
Mr Rane, son of Union minister Narayan Rane, tweeted a screenshot of a purported mobile phone conversation on Monday without mentioning any names with a comment, "Ye Pappu kabhi pass nahi hoga!!"
"So the Rahul Gandhi Yatra is stage-managed. This is proof of how actors are being paid to come and walk with him. Sab Golmaal hai bhai!", he tweeted.
Amit Malviya, the in charge of BJP's national information and technology department, alleged a "paid PR".
"Other than refurbishing Rahul Gandhi's credential as a leader, all that his yatra has achieved is enable the rise of a self-serving coterie around him, which is doing more harm by this kind of paid PR. But who are these people willing to associate with Rahul even for some money?" he questioned in a tweet.
Questioning the authenticity of Nitesh Rane's tweets and claims, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Sachin Sawant on Tuesday alleged the tweet shows BJP's desperation to discredit the yatra.
"Such bogus WhatsApp images are being shown as proof. No name, no numbers. It is BJP that masters the art of arm-twisting celebrities to portray artificial support for them, not Congress.
"Don't we remember tweets of celebrities on petrol and diesel rates during UPA government and during farmers' protests? Everyone knows that it takes courage to stand against autocratic and divisive agenda of BJP. Those who have joined Bharat Jodo Yatra are standing for the cause and for our nation," he tweeted.
Mr Sawant said the BJP's attempt to belittle the honesty of artists and malign their characters shows how correct the stand of artists is.
"Today's statement of PM against Bharat Jodo Yatra and such malicious propaganda from BJP only reaffirms our resolve and proves that the yatra is on the right track," he added.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)