From ‘Pappu’ to ‘Shehzada’: BJP's changing tactics for Rahul Gandhi
Pappu’ has been a common pet name in India, especially the North. In certain context, it is also used to denote a foolish or an ill-witted person. The BJP successfully used the name as a political tool in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to discredit Congress leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi.
Now, in 2024, with the reinvention of Rahul Gandhi, the BJP is also reimagining his moniker. This time it is “shehzada" (prince). Looking to overthrow the Congress-led UPA government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with an ever-so-impressive IT cell, actively ran a campaign to create this image of Rahul Gandhi as a person who "lives in his own world" and whose only talent was his name, “Gandhi".
The campaign was a success! Even a Google search on “pappu" threw up Rahul Gandhi's images. It still does. Before his talk at Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in 2013, “#pappuCII" had started trending on Twitter with hundreds of tweets being posted under it.
Later, netizens and politicians ruffled through his CII speech to solidify the image that had started to become a hit among the masses. And soon, it became evident that Rahul Gandhi wasn't a politician who could challenge the image that was Narendra Modi. The writer thinks: It is fascinating how these narratives can drive a whole population to sing along.
Over the years, more such terms such as “tubelight," “mahagyani" (super knowledgeable), and "moorkhon ka sardar" (leader of fools) have taken over. "Shehzada" (prince), too, has come up again as India votes to elect its King. Pun wasn't intended.
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