Produced in Marathi, the nearly 45-minute long cassette is a take-off on the popular television chat-show, Movers & Shakers, with several known and lesser-known Marathi artistes taking the microphone on an appropriately decorated set. The host is shown having Gandhi and the AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha as guests on the show. So far so good. Then it turns obnoxiously offensive, the sole purpose being to show them both in a rank derogatory manner.

For instance, the hostwonders with Jayalalitha if she would have had to charter an additional vehicle or autorickshaw to carry her to the venue, in an obvious reference to her girth. There are lines that wonder about her needing a suitcase to carry her immense collection of footwear, and so on. But the best, or the worst, is reserved for Madam Gandhi who is likened to a Pomeranian dog and who is shown mouthing lines in incorrect Marathi, invested with a double entendre. For instance, she is shown as saying to the host,``Mazhya kutumbiyani desha sathi goli gilali, mazhya navryani bomb gilala (for the country, my family swallowed bullets, my husband swallowed a bomb).'' The correct word to replace `gilali' or `gilala' would be `jhelala'. When an aide tries to correct her, she is shown as being dismissive.

All this and more has rankled the Congress here in a big way. With most senior leaders away in New Delhi to finalise ticket distribution, party officials are wondering how to counter this ortake action against such a personalised and below-the-belt offensive. Said former minister, now spokesperson, Vinayakrao Patil, ``The BJP got a chance to rule by a sheer accident, but they have shown that they do not have the stature to rule. It's unfortunate that they have resorted to derogatory jokes and shallow statements to make their point to the electorate.''

Incidentally, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party too had expressed disgust at the video, terming it the epitome of distastefulness. ``There should be some sobriety and decency in a campaign,'' said a senior leader. The party's audio cassette for the election campaign will be ready in the next few days, but insiders say it does not contain vulgar or indecent references to Gandhi.

One of the options that the Congress is considering is a complaint with the Election Commission. ``This style reeks more of the Shiv Sena's low-level disgusting style of being offensive,'' remarked a Congress leader. Asked if the State campaign will give afitting reply to the BJP, he replied in the negative. ``We will not mount a counter-attack in this manner. There are enough substantial issues to talk about the BJP, both at the Centre and the State,'' he said.