'Gobi Farming,' Muslims as 'Rats': Hateful Digital Campaign in Bihar Polls

The digital campaign behind Bihar polls involved posts which showed Muslims as rats, dogs and worms.

(Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint)

(Exposing hate and communalism is a key focus area in The Quint's reportage. Become a member and help us do more such stories).

The NDA won Bihar by a landslide victory on 14 November. One strong force that preceded their win: a digital campaign riding on anti-Muslim hate messaging disguised as anti-infiltrator rhetoric on the heels of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

Not only this, shortly after the trends predicted a win for the BJP, Ashok Singhal, Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Irrigation in Assam posted on X, "Bihar approves Gobi farming," alluding to the Bhagalpur riots of 1989.

Back then, in Logain village, hundreds of dead bodies of Muslims were covered with cauliflower plantation to hide the evidence post the violence.

Even the BJP's official X account in Assam posted a meme mocking Congress' Gaurav Gogoi who is dressed up as a 'Paijaan' (derogatory word for Muslims) in a meme.

But there was a larger campaign online which showed how the rot runs deep.

A new report by the Foundation Diaspora in Action for Human Rights and Democracy (DAHRD) — an Indian diaspora-led non-profit organization — also documented a systemic campaign of anti-Muslim hate speech on social media.

Through a qualitative analysis of 211 social media pages and groups with a combined following of 91.1 million users, DAHRD demonstrated how digital narratives systematically constructed Muslims as illegitimate citizens to rationalise their exclusion from political life.

The Quint had earlier reported on hate speech by BJP leaders ahead of Bihar elections, where Muslims were called 'namak harams' and 'ghuspaithiye' among other things.

It's important to note that even though this narrative of 'foreigners' has been pushed by the BJP, reports have claimed that they accounted less than 0.012% of Bihar's voters in SIR, while ECI has made no mention of how many 'infiltrators' were identified during the SIR process.

But this did not stop the ruling party to share visuals which explicitly showed Muslims as 'infiltrators' allegedly threatening Bihar's demography. In this story, The Quint dissects the hate behind the digital campaign in Bihar.

BJP's Direct Role

The discursive function of the Islamophobic social media campaign operated on two parallels:

"First, through the dehumanization of Muslims as foreign and subversive elements whose removal was framed as a patriotic act. Second, by preemptively delegitimizing criticism of the voter deletions through the counter-narrative of voter infiltration," reads the DAHRD report.

Take this video for example.

This video was posted by BJP's official Facebook page captioned, 'India's sons are risking their lives on the border for the security of another country. On the other hand only for vote bank RJD and TMC are infiltrating India.'

The video constructs Muslims as foreign enemies whose access to citizenship rights constitutes theft from legitimate (Hindu) citizens.

By characterizing demographic change in Muslim-majority Seemanchal as 'infiltration,' the messaging delegitimizes Muslim presence itself.

This, even though, reports have stated that not a single voter was deleted in Seemanchal in SIR on 'infiltration' grounds.

BJP's official Instagram account posted this graphic.

(Photo: BJP/Instagram)

The image above was posted by the official BJP's Instagram and Facebook page and shows two panels labeled 'Then' and 'Now.'

The first depicted Congress stealing ballot boxes, while the second shows Tejashwi Yadav carrying a basket labeled "Ghuspaitiye" (infiltrators) containing a grinning Muslim man (skull cap and orange beard) toward the Bihar Elections. Rahul Gandhi is fanning him. The caption reads, 'First, loot the ballot box, Then shout, Let the infiltrators be given a free hand! This is the true character of the Congress party.'

The imagery of Yadav carrying Muslims to the polls in a basket while Rahul services them constructs the RJD's Muslim voter base as composed of illegitimate 'infiltrators' whose political participation constitutes electoral fraud rather than democratic expression.

Another viral post by the BJP showed Yadav and Gandhi carrying Muslim men and women in a basket toward the Bihar Elections, with the Muslims holding Voter and Aadhaar cards, captioned 'Dum laga ke, ghuspaithya.'

The caption of the post read, "By selling the rights of Indian citizens, Congress and its allied parties are buying the votes of infiltrators."

BJP's official X handle posted this graphic.

(Photo: BJP/X)

From Citizens to Vermin

Several accounts such as 'Paltu Paltan' and 'Politoons' share pro-BJP content. On the counting day too, Politoons posted a meme showing a Muslim crying for Mahagathbandhan's loss with 'Pakistan' written on his t-shirt.

However, one of the most disturbing pattern to come out was when BJP's official account and 'Paltu Paltan' both shared a meme, depicting Muslims as vermin requiring extermination.

BJP's official account also shared this illustration.

(Photo: Instagram/Facebook)

The graphic showed a large rat with a skullcap and beard holding an Aadhaar card and eating from a sack labeled 'India’s resources.' Prime Minister Modi is shown pulling the rat by its tail and saying, “Get out of my country,” while Rahul Gandhi shouts, “My vote bank.” The rat’s body is tagged “Infiltrator vote bank."

In another condemnable post shared by right-wing accounts, an image showed a Muslim man urinating into Yadav's mouth.

The dehumanising image to depict Opposition leaders as servants of Muslims and showing Muslims ('vote bank' here) as polluting forces, suggesting that they should be removed from electoral rolls.

Degrading posts against Tejashwi Yadav and Muslims.

(Photo: DAHRD/Facebook)

Another reel posted by Politoons, some days ago again, as checked by The Quint, showed many hungry dogs wearing skull caps and beards, labeled 'Rohingyas,' crowding around Gandhi as he pours food from a box labeled 'Congress' into a bowl labeled 'vote bank.' The moon depicted in the background is the flag of Pakistan.

In the video, Home Minister Amit Shah then arrives in a van labeled 'Rohingya squad.' Shah is shown to catch the screaming dogs, tossing them into the back of the van.

This post employs extreme dehumanisation by depicting Muslims (coded as 'Rohingyas') as animals—specifically as stray dogs that need to be captured and removed.

Politoons posted another post where they showed rats wearing skull-caps.

In this image, they depicted three panels titled, 'Detecting, Deleting, and Deporting.' This language was used by Home Minister Amit Shah earlier too, which he called his 3D policy.

The image showed Shah spotting skull-capped rats entering through a wall hole, the rats being caught in a trap, and finally the trap being released into Bangladesh.

The post employs extreme dehumanization by equating Muslims with vermin requiring extermination, directly echoing genocidal propaganda historically used to justify mass violence. Presence of Muslims shown as infestation rather than democratic citizenship.

Post by Politoons showing Muslims as rats.

(Photo: FB/Instagram)

The act of showing Muslims as vermin or infestation does not end here.

Another post by 'Paltu Paltan' showed an apple labelled, 'Bihar voter list revision' full of holes, with worms wearing beards and skull caps inside the holes, while an arm labeled 'EC' plucks the worms out with tweezers.

Muslims shown as worms by this account.

(Photo: Facebook)

Last but not the least, in a viral post by 'Paltu Paltan,' Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is shown with his skull opened, to reveal a pile of excrement labeled 'Jihad.' The illustration had a caption, 'Shahid Afridi praises Rahul Gandhi, says he has good thinking.'

Using a former Pakistani cricketer's remark to accuse him of anti-national allegiance, the account defamed Rahul Gandhi as well as targeted Muslims.

Paltu Paltan's post against Rahul Gandhi and Muslims.

(Photo: Facebook)

Weaponising The 'Infiltrator' Bogey

Several other posts showed Muslims allegedly crossing from Bangladesh and allegedly being issued voter IDs by Congress leaders to recast Muslims as imported foreigners used to manipulate elections.

"The sophistication of this narrative lies in how it renders Muslim citizenship itself suspicious—even those born in Bihar become 'infiltrators' if their religion matches the constructed enemy," reads DAHRD's report.

A Facebook account 'Modi for New India' posted a widely-shared video wherein Muslims (in skull caps and hijabs) are caught entering borders illegally, showing that they were protected by the Opposition and fake voter ID were given to them too.

The video showed that after the SIR is announced, Congress workers try to help the Muslim man with his fake ID, but the verification officer catches and arrests him.

This Instagram reel by 'Politoons' with over 1 million views depicted Muslim men and women entering India from Bangladesh during Congress rule while a sleeping 'Congress' guard allows them entry and issues voter ID and Aadhaar cards.

The guard hands them fake voter and Aadhar cards, land to a Muslim man wearing a 'Waqf board' shirt, permitting him to bring in Sharia law. 'There is God above and Congress on Earth' says one Muslim. PM Modi appear as a strict guard who rejects these fake documents and makes the 'Ghuspaithiya' flee, causing Congress to allege vote fraud.

What remains consistent in all of these visuals or illustrations is that Muslims are only shown as the evil or ill-intentioned 'infiltrators' to create a misguided perception.

This video posted by Politoons on Instagram and Facebook showed Gandhi and Yadav carrying demonic-looking Muslim men—identified by beards and skull caps labeled 'illegal infitrators' towards the Bihar Elections, only to be stopped by PM Modi holding a sign reading 'SIR tag,' with the caption "Prime Minister Modi's Guarantee—whoever wants to save infiltrators will be thrown out of India."

Reel posted by Politoons.

(Photo: Instagram)

Meanwhile, a Facebook post showed two cliffs. One labeled 'Pakistan' and the other named 'India.'

In the post, Congress politician has safely crossed with a Muslim man labeled 'Infiltrator' while PM Modi saves a saffron-clad man labeled 'Displaced Refugee' who is stuck on the dangerous side.

By showing Congress safely transporting Muslims into India while leaving Hindus stranded in dangerous neighboring countries, the imagery frames Muslim presence in India as 'illegitimate foreign intrusion' facilitated by Opposition parties.

A Facebook post showing Congress transporting alleged Muslim 'infiltrators.'

(Photo: Facebook)

Another part of the report deals with fraud inversion, how Opposition's claims are delegitimised through such digital campaigns.

Rather than responding to the Opposition's criticism, the content proactively framed such criticism as evidence of complicity in the alleged infiltration.

"The 'vote bank' accusation functioned as conceptual infrastructure connecting different propaganda strands. By reducing Muslim political participation to transactional vote-buying, it denied Muslims political agency or legitimate political interests," reads the report.

Such as these two posts below which show that Gandhi has 'surrendered' to the Muslim 'vote bank' and is helping Muslim 'infiltrators' to get rights in the country.

Post against Rahul Gandhi and Muslims.

(Photo: Facebook)

Post against Rahul Gandhi and Muslims.

(Photo: Facebook)

DAHRD noted that the complicity of platforms lies not only in the amplification of harmful narratives but also in their failures of moderation.

Despite repeated evidence of Islamophobic content in India, social media platforms have consistently failed to apply its own community standards in politically sensitive contexts. Amnesty International has also warned that new content policies only risk fuelling more mass violence against marginalised groups.

"Each instance has been flagged, documented, and reported with minimal substantive response. The Bihar election represents not an aberration but the normalisation of this failure," stated DAHRD.