Bhubaneswar is soon going to be labelled a Sanghi, communal city full of Hindu terrorists. Not that Odisha does not receive its share of ‘secular, liberal’ flak, but its citizens have just given a hearty, full-throttled answer to the looming question in the minds of ‘non-pliant’ media.
Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister?
The audience at #MindRocksBhubaneswar answers
LIVE https://t.co/IoVlQX3D3u pic.twitter.com/ZrKMRorLfO— India Today (@IndiaToday) January 10, 2019
In an event titled ‘Mindrocks Bhubaneswar’, organised by the India Today group, the anchor, displaying the Gandhi family’s version of ‘fierce journalism’ in a debate between Congress’ Sushmita Dev, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey and BJD’s Kalikesh Sighdeo, asked the audience “Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister? He even emphasized, “Yes first”.
But the young crowd did not wait long before roaring a reverberating “NO”.
The crowd sternly ignored his nudgings to say ‘yes’.
As if to drive the ‘NO’ home, the young students gathered started a loud sloganeering chorus of “Pappu, Pappu, Pappu”.
The resounding “NO” which followed his question seemed to have rattled him, as he proceeded nervously to say, “No, no that was not the question, first say YES,”
He asked again, “Will he make a good Prime Minister”?
But the crowd was too smart to fall for the trick. A smirky silence followed the anchor’s question.
When the anchor proceeded to ask finally, “Now, who says no, he will not make a good Prime Minister?”, there followed such a loud “NO” that filled the venue from all directions.
The anchor was not done yet though. He furthered, “Now who says yes, he will make a good Prime Minister?”
As the camera spanned the venue, two persons on the front row were saying yes, but they soon laughed themselves, then came a loud roar of laughter that must have made Odisha’s thoughts of Rahul Gandhi pretty clear to the anchor and the politicians present there.
Twitter users were not going to miss it.
It’s true the youth is with #RahulGandhi See students in Bhubaneswar cheering #Pappu #Pappu When asked Will Rahul Gandhi make a good Prime Minister? ???@badri4BJP @BJP4India @narendramodi @ShefVaidya @kallgorr @ARanganathan72 https://t.co/OkjAlvipCX
— Sumit Prasad (@prasad_sumit_) January 10, 2019
Don’t try hard @IndiaToday .. we can understand that you cannot digest the fact that Congress and Pappu is out of power.. But trust the Indians, this time they are not gonna give ‘Pappu’ any chance to reach to the seat of PM. Because everybody wants #ModiOnceMore https://t.co/DG6nnzwo5J
— Pritish Dinesh Sathe (@Pritish_s_) January 10, 2019
.India’s youth Slames bootlickers of Dynasty. What a Shame @aroonpurie that your Media had to stoop to such level to prove the loyalty to @RahulGandhi, but no matter what you #Pidis do India will never ever elect the Liability RaGa as PM. This is Pliable Media Mr Gandhy#Pathetic https://t.co/wD1A1Korh4
— #मનીSH ✍ ?? (@M_T_6579) January 10, 2019
‘India Today’ tried its best but couldn’t get one ‘yes’ from the audience! ? https://t.co/fkF8MxvWbg
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) January 10, 2019
India Today anchor’s constant attempts to steer, even trick a positive reaction from the crowd was not missed by anyone. We do feel for the journalist, but sadly, Odisha has been in a different league altogether as far as politics is concerned. The state had rejected Congress a long time back and has been virtual ‘Congress Mukt’ since almost two decades. Just yesterday, CM Naveen Patnaik even announced that the ruling BJD will not support the proposed Mahagathbandhan.
Seeing the way the crowd in Bhubaneswar responded with ‘NO’s and an even more assertive laughter at the mere suggestion of Rahul Gandhi as the PM of the country, here are some honest suggestions by this Odia author for future journalists to better ‘trick’ and confuse the crowd into saying ‘Yes’ to the suggestion of Rahul as the PM.
- If Rahul declares to proclaim Rasagola as an Odiya sweet which the Bengalis have stolen, will you accept him as your Prime Minister?
- Between Lingaraj Lassi and Alu ki factory, will you still prefer the lassi if Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister?
- Rahul Gandhi thinks ‘Pakhala’ with fish fry is much better than cold drinks in summer, will he make a good Prime Minister?
- Rahul Gandhi claims he can pronounce ‘Bhubaneswar’ correctly fifteen times in under a minute, will he make a good Prime Minister?
- When Queen Elizabeth digs into a nice prawn dish, Rahul Gandhi wants her to see ‘Made In Chilika’ written on the prawn’s fried belly. Will he make a good Prime Minister?
We wish the free, fearless and ‘non-pliant’ journalists better luck the next time.
