The poster also features Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday slammed the BJP after a full page advertisement was published in the local edition of a vernacular daily in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao on Independence Day, featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kuldeep Sengar, the rape-accused former BJP leader. "Enough is enough," the Congress General Secretary tweeted, asking whether the top BJP leaders will comment as Kuldeep Sengar's photo was displayed along with theirs.
"CBI submitted the report. Supreme Court has also reprimanded but BJP people still have rape accused Kuldeep Singh Sengar in their hearts. His photo is there with big leaders of BJP. Will they comment?" Priyanka Gandhi tweeted, adding #EnoughIsEnough.
The poster also features Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
However, the poster was defended by the chairman of the Ungu Nagar Panchayat, who had paid for the advertisement. "He is MLA of our area. That is why his photo is there. Till the time he is our MLA his photo can be put," Anuj Kumar Dixit was quoted by news agency ANI.
Anuj Kumar Dixit, who was reportedly inducted into the BJP by Kuldeep Sengar, denied his ad, which also featured Kuldeep Sengar's wife, Sangeeta Sengar, Chairwoman of the Zila Panchayat, had any links with political parties.
BJP spokesperson Shalabhmani Tripathi has denied party links to the poster.
"It might have been someone's personal choice to give Sengar's photograph. It has nothing to do with the party or the state government. We have no sympathy for Sengar," he told news agency PTI.
Kuldeep Sengar had been expelled by the BJP earlier this month, amid criticism the party had only acted after concerted outrage against earlier inaction.
A Delhi court last week framed charges of rape against four-time MLA Kuldeep Sengar, who, with his brother Atul Sengar, was also named in a murder case involving the rape survivor's father.
Kuldeep Sengar has also been accused of orchestrating the horrific crash last month in which the car the rape survivor was travelling in was rammed by a truck with blackened number plates. The accident left the survivor and her lawyer fighting for their lives.
The Unnao rape survivor has accused Kuldeep Sengar, 53, of raping her two years ago, when she went to his home in search of employment. The case made international headlines last year after the young girl tried to commit suicide outside Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home because Uttar Pradesh police had refused to register her complaint.
With inputs from ANI and PTI