Overview

• The Press Information Bureau dismissed reports that the BJP planned a vermilion giveaway to women as fake news.
• BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra branded the reports fabricated; IT cell head Amit Malviya called them opposition propaganda.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenged Prime Minister Modi’s naming of Operation Sindoor; she questioned why he did not first offer vermilion to his own wife.
• The BJP accused Banerjee of using inappropriate language; Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the party abandoned the vermilion plan after public backlash.
• The exchange highlights the growing personalization of politics days before the BJP’s month-long outreach drive begins on June 9.