How 1980s retro AI photo started trending ChatGPT BJP vs Congress meme war – see photos of Modi, Rahul Gandhi and more | Today’s news
A viral photo trend from the 1980s has found its way onto politicians’ social networks, triggering a “meme war” between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the rival Congress party.
As the trend of sharing AI-generated retro images caught on, leaders and supporters from both parties began flooding social media with vintage-style images targeting their political rivals.
Read also | ChatGPT’s 1980s photo trend: What happens to your picture after you upload it?
The Congress was among the first to turn the trend into political ammunition, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a series of AI-generated images depicting him in an unmistakable 1980s setting.
The BJP soon intervened and used the same visual trend to target Congress leaders and revive familiar political slurs. The saffron party instead used real pictures of PM Modi from the 1980s.
Read also | ChatGPT Photo Trend: Top 5 Challenges to Turn Your Photo 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s
What began as a light-hearted exercise in nostalgia has thus evolved into yet another digital battleground between two rival sides.
The exchange also highlighted how quickly AI-generated content and internet trends are being absorbed into political communication, with parties increasingly using memes, stylized images and viral formats to shape narratives and engage social media audiences.
The BJP soon intervened and used the same visual trend to target Congress leaders and revive familiar political slurs. The saffron party instead used real pictures of PM Modi from the 1980s.(AI generated collage using BJP/Congress images)
The Kerala Congress unit shared an AI-generated image showing a man sitting on the front passenger seat of a Maruti Suzuki Omni with the caption: “A Gujarat street in the 1980s”.
Launched in India in the 1980s, the van became famous in Bollywood movies where it was often used by goons and kidnappers, and eventually earned its own meme identity of the “carrying van”. BJP Gujarat attacked with its own image generated by artificial intelligence. The BJP Telangana unit also responded to the Congress post.
In another post, the BJP also took aim at the Congress by citing the party’s “irregularity” in the 1980s under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In one post, the BJP responded with the same van-meme, referring to the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984. In another post, the BJP also took aim at the Congress by citing the party’s “irregularity” in the 1980s under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
what is the trend
The viral ’80s AI trend is a craze on social media where users are using artificial intelligence to reimagine their modern selfies as retro ’80s portraits.
AI generates a new image that preserves the exact features of their face, while being completely redesigned with voluminous hairstyles, period-accurate fashion, film grain and classic studio lighting.
The trend has taken over platforms like Instagram and X, with everyone from influencers to Indian politicians jumping on the nostalgia wave.
In a viral trend, users upload a photo to ChatGPT and ask him to paint the same picture in true 80s style. He creates portraits evoking the signature visual aesthetic of the 80s with exaggerated hairstyles, bright clothing, soft lighting and film grain effects.
This phenomenon is called the ChatGPT photo trend of the 1980s. Many of the popular versions are based on popular 80s movies, Bollywood and family albums.
BJP, Congress leaders jumped on the viral AI trend of the 1980s
Meme-war apart. BJP leaders including Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined in with playful posts while Renuka Chowdhury shared an actual magazine cover from the 1980s.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared a stylish AI-generated retro photo of himself on an X-handle in which he was seen standing near a car. Sharing the photo, Kiren Rijiju wrote, “Why is everyone going back to the 80s vibes? I’m also forced to 80s nostalgia!”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also jumped into the viral trend by sharing his AI-generated retro photo. Sharing a photo on his X handle, the Assam CM wrote, “Getting into any trend with nostalgia attached to it. Back to the 80’s eh!”
But Congress MP Shashi Tharoor found a way to join the trend without asking AI to take him back in time. “Looks like the 80s are back, courtesy of AI. Thought I’d join the trend the old-fashioned way,” he wrote, sharing photos that were actually taken during the decade.
It seems the 80s are back, thanks to AI. I thought I’d join the trend the old-fashioned way.
The pictures included Tharoor with his sons Ishaan and Kanishk
