The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has kicked up a massive brouhaha because someone dared to mock their revered Prime Minister Modi. Essentially, everything is fair game for the ruling dispensation, including viciously mocking leaders of the opposition, but the prime minister must be treated with only the highest level of respect, with nobody allowed to take a jibe at his politics or him.

The controversy erupted following comedian Pulkit Mani’s stand-up act mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Congress-organised ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Indore last weekend, with Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi present on stage. For the uninitiated, the comedian made fun of the prime minister’s frequent use of the “my friend” phrase for foreign heads of state, his hugs and his manner of speaking.

The BJP immediately cried foul, calling it “third-rate antics” and disrespectful to the prime minister, while the Congress steadfastly defended it as a democratic right to take on its opponents, especially one that has always relied on cheap tactics to mock its rivals.

The issue with the stage act wasn’t one of impropriety or crassness given the current state of India’s political climate, but that of the poor level of comedy. Mimicry is the laziest form of comedy, a low-hanging fruit, and several other stand-up comedians have done a far better—more skilled, cleverer and funnier—job of taking on PM Modi. To that extent, the Congress could have done better. If you’re taking on the most powerful person in the country, at least make the joke funny. It would have also been more prudent to have the comedian on stage before or after Rahul Gandhi stepped on to it, instead of while he was there. 

But these are minor quibbles; the problem with the furore is the BJP’s brazen sense of entitlement. The BJP has muddied the waters with its viciously low and personal level of discourse ever since storming into the national scene under PM Modi and Amit Shah’s leadership in 2014, and the mud splashes are unlikely to spare anyone now. The opposition is merely following suit, trying to keep up with the BJP’s style of politics. 

Cheapened level of discourse

To be fair, it is true that this sort of political mockery by the Leader of Opposition may have been unacceptable even 15 years ago, in the pre-Modi-Shah era. But the level of political discourse in India since then has plummeted, the political environment has become vitiated, and political rivalries have taken an oddly personal turn. And it is Modi-Shah’s BJP that has been at the forefront of this transition.

For instance, the BJP has endlessly used the derogatory “Pappu” to refer to Rahul Gandhi and his electoral incapability. Now, Home Minister Amit Shah was among the BJP leaders to popularise this phrase. “Congress thinks the Prime Minister's chair is Pappu's birthright. But this is a democracy; you need people's blessings, and people's blessings are with Narendra Modi," said Shah had said at a rally in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh way back in 2013.

Rahul Gandhi’s mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been constantly subjected to abuses and sexist remarks. PM Modi is himself said to have once referred to Sonia Gandhi as an “imported Jersey Cow” Prominent BJP leaders have used all sorts of phrases to refer to her, with BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal likening her to a 'Vishakanya' (venomous maiden).

Most recently, crude AI-generated images of Sonia Gandhi depicting her as a ‘bar dancer’ were circulated by official handles of the state units of the BJP on social media. 

These examples are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg, offering a glimpse into how the BJP has dirtied the political game.

Why BJP has no right to object

By leading the way in adding toxicity to India’s political discourse, the BJP has lost absolutely any right to object to its opponents’ attacks on it, as crass and crude as they might be. Nobody is justifying the opposition resorting to cheap attacks, but the objection is to the BJP’s offence to the kind of language it has itself introduced.

India’s political landscape was once vastly different. Leaders who sat on the opposite sides on the floor of Parliament debated and disagreed vehemently and passionately, but never by throwing out civility and basic grace (barring a few ugly examples). In their personal space, they were cordial, friendly even. Personal attacks were rare and were frowned upon, and the language was more agreeable and dignified.

This has changed. The deeply aggressive and ambitious BJP ushered in an era of no-holds-barred politics, which included personal attacks, ugly accusations and dubious language. For the BJP, everything is kosher—from brazen communal politics and communally-charged language to misogyny and nasty comments about its rivals. This is a party that would do anything to win an election, including cheapening discourse and lowering the dignity of political relationships. Decency, decorum and democratic spirit are hardly qualities of which this version of the BJP can boast. 

Therefore, its offence at a stand-up comedian mocking PM Modi is, frankly, laughable. If you think you can resort to absolutely anything, but nobody should be able to take a dig at you, it isn’t democracy; it is authoritarianism.  

The prime minister is all about theatrics, and has made that a mainstay of his political outreach. Clearly, that has worked for him. How then, can his party expect the opposition to not resort to similar histrionics? Yes, this is ugly. Yes, mimicking a prime minister, his diplomatic style and his language is coarse. Yes, the level of discourse should be nowhere even close to where it is. But the BJP has only itself to blame for this. You started it; others are merely playing catch-up. You can’t suddenly cry foul when the tables turn. 

Hence, Prime Minister Modi, you must learn to laugh off any jokes about you. After all, you’ve treated yourself to many a laugh at the cost of your rivals. As they say, if you dish it out, you have to be able to take it as well.