Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Congress ally, made another nasty display of its efforts to sow the seeds of regionalism in the country. In a tweet on Saturday, the official Twitter handle of the party took a dig at Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray for saying ‘Jai Gujarat!’. In its tweet, the NCP said, “Uddhav does what Balasaheb never did” implying that Uddhav did something his father wasn’t too keen on doing, i.e. bowing before the Gujaratis.
जे बाळासाहेब ठाकरेंना जमले नाही, ते @uddhavthackeray यांनी #करूनदाखवले..@ShivSena @BJP4Maharashtra #NCP2019 #LokSabhaElections2019 pic.twitter.com/ABH2lG4jYO
— NCP (@NCPspeaks) March 30, 2019
The NCP mischievously appears to have edited out the part of Uddhav’s speech where he says ‘Jai Maharashtra!’
Edited out Jai Maharashtra? pic.twitter.com/rk3To8ZA4q
— चौकीदार अंकुर सिंह (@iAnkurSingh) March 30, 2019
However, the Great Meme War is upon us. And political battles are fought not only at rallies and polling booths but also on social media. The Shiv Sena was quick to reply with a meme of its own that said, “Rehney do Beta, Tumse na ho payega (Leave it son, it’s beyond your capabilities).”
— ShivSena – शिवसेना (@ShivSena) March 30, 2019
Memes have become an integral part of politics in the age of social media. We have seen the BJP make very effective use of social media over the years and it appears they are ahead of the curve as far as the meme game is concerned. And now, it appears their excellence is rubbing off on its most natural ally as well.
The Congress party too has attempted to use memes to further its political prospects. However, unfortunately for them, their party president out-memes the memes himself.
