Delhi – A comedy routine that lampooned Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rahul Gandhi’s student‑focused rally in Indore has reignited the long‑standing rivalry between the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The performance, delivered by stand‑up comic Pulkit Mani, featured a series of impersonations of Modi’s speech patterns, gestures and public anecdotes, prompting both parties to launch a flurry of statements on the social media platform X.
The performance and its content
During the “Chhatron Ki Goonj” programme, Mani took the stage and began mimicking Modi’s characteristic use of the phrase “my friend” when addressing foreign dignitaries. He repeatedly asked, “My friend, how are you?” without directly naming the prime minister, a line that drew immediate laughter from the audience. The act then shifted to a mock dialogue in which the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, responded, “I am fine, how are you Modi ji?” Mani answered, “Great harassment,” and continued to pepper his routine with the “my friend” refrain while exaggerating Modi’s mannerisms.
The sketch also referenced several items that have featured in recent media coverage of the prime minister. Mani alluded to Modi’s foreign‑policy outreach, mentioned the controversy surrounding a Chinese humanoid robot displayed by Galgotias University at the India Global AI Summit, and recreated a coin‑trick that Modi performed with schoolchildren, placing a coin on his forehead to the crowd’s cheers. A further gag targeted the prime minister’s mother, with the comic chanting, “Maa ko kursi do, maa,” before laughing and delivering the line “Setting, my friend.”
Following the routine, Gandhi thanked the audience, saying “Very nice to meet you,” and invited Mani to elaborate, prompting the comedian to continue the satire. The entire exchange was recorded and quickly disseminated by Congress’s official X handle, which posted two clips. One caption read “Narendra Modi ki Foreign Policy,” while the other highlighted the repeated phrase “My friend!! Great Harassment!!” The videos were also shared by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera, who described the act as a “spectacular show of great harassment” that featured the coin‑trick.
Political fallout and broader social media war
The BJP’s response focused on the reference to Modi’s late mother, which party leaders described as “extremely shameful and painful.” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami posted on X that insulting a mother was unacceptable in any civilized society and accused Gandhi of crossing “all limits of propriety.” He added that such remarks “expose your own political culture” and warned that “the maternal power of the country is watching everything.”
Similarly, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav condemned Gandhi’s remarks as “irresponsible, shameful, and unbecoming,” arguing that insulting the prime minister’s mother amounted to an insult to mothers across the nation. Yadav called for an apology, stating that the comments “encouraged the youth’s future in the wrong direction.”
This episode is not the first instance of Congress employing satire aimed at Modi. In August, Gandhi participated in a separate event where he hugged party leader Sandeep Dikshit and exchanged jokes about the prime minister’s foreign policy. Dikshit quipped, “You weren’t hugging me thinking I was Meloni?” to which Gandhi replied, “I haven’t reached that stage yet.” The BJP criticised that exchange as well.
Both parties have also been engaged in a broader social‑media confrontation involving AI‑generated imagery. Earlier in September, the Congress Kerala unit posted AI‑created pictures targeting BJP figures, including an image of a man resembling Amit Shah seated in a Maruti Omni and another depicting Modi at a railway station. In retaliation, BJP state units from Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana circulated AI‑generated visuals aimed at Sonia Gandhi. One Telangana post showed a woman in a bar with the caption “Lusiana, Italy. Circa‑1970s,” referencing the former Italian prime minister’s birthplace.
The Congress has announced that it is taking legal action over some of the AI‑generated posts, underscoring the increasingly digital nature of political combat in India. As the two parties continue to trade barbs online, the incident in Indore highlights how humor, technology and political sensitivities intersect in contemporary Indian discourse.
Be First to Comment