The Congress on Friday sacked its Moradabad district chief Ajay Saraswat Soni after posters depicting party chief Sonia Gandhi as Goddess Durga were found in the party office there.

Sonia condemned the appearance of the said posters and ordered the state Congress committee to inquire into the matter and identify the persons responsible for it.

A painting portraying Sonia as Goddess Durga in the party office in Moradabad caught everybody by surprise.

Soni termed the poster as a "work of art" created by a painter who hung the "sample piece" on a wall at the party office in Moradabad during the recent Assembly elections.

The painter had also asked party workers to contact him for more such paintings, if required.

Sonia had asked the state unit of the party to take immediate action to expel from the party if the persons responsible for the act were Congressmen.

"Following this, the District Congress Committee president Ajay Saraswat Soni has been relieved from his post with immediate effect," AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement in Delhi.