Political Parties Use AI Videos to Target Rivals; ‘Akal Takht’ Warns AAP

July

2026

With the 2025 Assembly elections approaching, political parties in Panjab are increasingly putting out AI videos to target rivals, while simultaneously dismissing inconvenient content as fabricated. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal, and Indian National Congress are all using AI-generated videos portraying fictitious conversations between political leaders, often mimicking real voices. These videos are typically labeled as 'AI-generated', but experts warn the distinction is increasingly lost on ordinary viewers. Social media teams of parties acknowledge the growing use of AI tools, citing platforms capable of generating scripts, voices, and video avatars within hours. A party's social media handler said, 'Characters are created using real photographs, while voice cloning tools replicate speech patterns from public recordings. We are using some expensive AI-software and tools to create such videos. It takes two to three hours to produce a near-real video.' Most of the teams making such videos outsource the production. Meanwhile, the standoff between the Sikh institutions and the AAP-led Panjab government has taken a new turn, with Sri Akal Takht Sahib (Eternal Throne) Jathedar (leader) Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj issuing a 10-day ultimatum to the state government to shut down two AAP IT Cell offices in Chandigarh and Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, alleging that they are spreading 'vilified propaganda' against the the Takht. Addressing a Panthic (Sikh collective) gathering, organized by the apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), at Gurdwara Manji Sahib Diwan Hall in the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Giani Gargajj warned that if the government failed to act within 10 days against anti-AT propaganda, Nihang Sikhs (Traditional Warriors) would be sent to close the offices. The gathering called AT's 15 Jun edict, over the video desecrating Sikh Gurus purportedly featuring CM Mann, a collective voice of the Panth, and accused the Panjab government and AAP of challenging AT. At the center of the controversy is a video which results from forensic laboratories say is genuine but CM Mann claims is AI-generated. The gathering passed five resolutions to be communicated to all Sikh organizations, Singh Sabhas, missionary institutions, and SGPC constituencies to inform local Sikh congregations about 'conspiracies' against the community and to form village-level committees to promote awareness of traditions and customs (earlier coverage).