New Delhi, May 31
‘Vish guru’, ‘anubhavi chor’, ‘do shehzade’… As 2024 election hurtles towards result day in a medley of ‘mangalsutra, mujra, mutton, machli’ and other barbs, these may sound like character names from Hindi comics of yore. Instead, these are the mocking, sometimes vicious monikers given by political rivals to each other.
Here is a sampler from the just concluded Lok Sabha campaign that got progressively more heated, quite like the summer sun scorching large swathes of India, with leaders from across the spectrum using political speak to sharpen their verbal knives with epithets, sarcasm and more:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘puppet king’ of ‘tempo billionaires’ over his remarks on the Congress receiving ‘cash loaded in tempos’ from ‘Adani and Ambani’.
‘Do shehzade’ (two princes) have come together for the politics of appeasement, PM Narendra Modi said at a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh. He didn’t take any names but it was an apparent attack on Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and SP president Akhilesh Yadav,
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh lashed out at Modi over his speeches at election rallies, saying the language he used suggests he is not a ‘vishwa guru’ but a ‘vish guru’. ‘Vishwa guru’ refers to a world leader. ‘Vish’ means poison.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate posted a picture of actor Kangana Ranaut, the BJP’s candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and captioned it ‘Mandi me bhav kya chal raha hai’. The post faced massive backlash for being derogatory, prompting Shrinate to remove it from all her social media accounts.
Rahul Gandhi mocked PM Narendra Modi over his not “born biologically” remark by saying an ordinary person would have been taken to a psychiatrist had he/she uttered the statement. His colleague Jairam Ramesh went on to dub the Prime Minister ‘sva-ghoshit bhagwan’ (self-declared god) while attacking the BJP over the Agnipath scheme.
In a veiled dig at the Delhi Chief Minister during a TV interview, PM Narendra Modi said an ‘anubhavi chor’ knows how to clear his tracks. This was in response to a question on the absence of a cash trail in the alleged liquor policy scam in Delhi.
PM Narendra Modi accused the INDIA bloc of “enslavement” and performing “mujra” for the Muslim vote bank and vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the opposition grouping.
A video of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav eating fish and Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad consuming mutton allegedly during the month of Sawan was splashed in a big way by the BJP. PM Narendra Modi said opposition parties were displaying their Mughal mindset and teasing the majority community by sharing the videos to consolidate their vote banks.
He also accused the INDIA bloc of performing ‘mujra’ for the Muslim vote bank.
At a rally in Rajasthan, the prime minister claimed the Congress’ election manifesto promises to snatch away Hindu women’s ‘mangalsutra’ and redistribute it to ‘infiltrators’ and ‘those who have more children’ – alluding to Muslims. The issue was seized by opposition leaders, including Congress chief Kharge and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, slamming PM Narendra Modi for the remarks.
At an election rally in Gujarat, Modi attacked the Congress over the issue of inheritance tax, saying if someone has two buffaloes, the opposition party will take away one if it wins the Lok Sabha polls. Hitting back at the Prime Minister, Lalu Prasad of the RJD – a constituent of the INDIA bloc – said Modi would be given a camel.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking in Haryana, sought the BJP’s response on its promise of two crore jobs each year, Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s bank account, and doubling of farmers’ income. He then called PM Narendra Modi ‘jhoothon ka sardar’ or the king of liars.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma labelled Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi ‘Amul babies’, saying people in the state would rather see “tigers and rhinos in Kaziranga” than watch the siblings at their election campaign events.
Addressing a rally in Punjab, PM Narendra Modi called AAP leader and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann a ‘kagazi CM’—chief minister only on paper.
Kangana Ranaut referred to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Vikramaditya Singh, who is also her rival in Mandi, as ‘bada pappu’ and ‘chhota pappu’, respectively. She also called the Congress “a disease” and “termite” left by Britishers.
PM Narendra Modi said at rally in that the INDIA bloc was a “congregation of scamsters” and its leaders stood for corruption, appeasement politics and a “perverted anti-Sanatan mindset”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dubbed the BJP “job-eater” after the Calcutta High Court scrapped the recruitment of nearly 26,000 teachers in the state. Banerjee accused the BJP of “conspiring” to stall the TMC government’s decision.
PM Narendra Modi called the Congress a ‘mureed’ (disciple) of Pakistan and said Islamabad was rooting for Rahul Gandhi as India’s next Prime Minister.
Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the SP and the Congress will be known as ‘Samapt Party’ and ‘Kaun Congress’ after the results are announced.
At a public meeting in Karnataka, PM Narendra Modi accused ‘shehzada’ Rahul Gandhi of insulting India’s rajas and maharajas but remaining silent on atrocities committed by the nawabs, nizams, sultans and badshahs for the sake of appeasement politics.
PV Anwar, an independent MLA supported by the ruling Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, stirred a controversy after he called Rahul Gandhi a “low-level citizen” and suggested he should undergo a “DNA test”.
Arvind Kejriwal alleged at a Jharkhand rally that “PM Modi hates tribals” as he had put the country’s ‘tallest tribal leader’, former CM Hemant Soren, behind bars.
Miffed by Rahul Gandhi’s remarks wondering why Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan was not jailed by the BJP government at the Centre, unlike two other CM’s of opposition-ruled states, the veteran Marxist called the Congress leader ‘completely immature’. He also said Rahul Gandhi “should not go back to his old name”—referring to former CM V S Achuthanandan’s remarks a decade ago calling the Congress leader an ‘Amul Baby’.
