Aishwarya Rai

Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi’s attempt to recast herself on a PR poster as a depiction of the Hindu goddess Durga has provoked outrage in India.

The poster shows Gandhi reinventing herself as the incarnation of the supreme warrior woman deity.

But overwhelming popular support in the country favors Bollywood star and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai to be associated with the 21st century’s idea of the re-incarnated goddess.

The Gandhi poster campaign in Moradabad district, northern Uttar Pradesh state shows the politician dressed up as the supreme Hindu female deity slaying the “demon of terrorism and corruption”.

“This is a jokle in very bad taste,” official sources have complained bitterly.

“Sonia Gandhi desecrates the very ethos of Durga because the goddess is supposed to be beautiful, uncorrupt and loved by many.

“If anybody is Durga’s reincarnation today then it has to be Aishwarya.”

Other critics have pointed out that Sonia Gandhi’s famous mother-in-law, assassinated prime minister Indira Gandhi is also tainted with hubris by the many temples that were dedicated to her “totally unjustifiably, because she looked like an old crone and not a goddess”.

There has been no comment from Aishwarya Rai’s PR team.