Who are Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu? And why is Indian twitter teasing Modi about them?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contrary to popular expectations, is seeing a major blow in the elections. The strongman of the right-wing Hindutva BJP, seeking a third term as Premier, could not get a clear majority. While his opponents are celebrating the unexpected result, Indian Twitter is having a riot about Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, who have emerged as key players in the elections. The two politicians are popular for their secular leanings yet are known for changing their positions frequently.
Indian publications like NDTV are making headlines, such as “Lok Sabha Election 2024 Result: India Congress may send feelers to Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar.”
The leading coalitions- that of Narendra Modi’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Rahul Gandhi’s Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)-are trying to include the two in their bloc.
Kumar and Naidu have traditionally allied with the Congress and are meeting with them today. Meanwhile, Twitter users are having a riot with memes.
A user posted a video of a movie scene in which a man is busy with several incoming calls, with the caption “Nitish Kumar right now.”
Nitish Kumar Right now pic.twitter.com/FsJTmIzOA3
— narsa. (@rathor7_) June 4, 2024
Another netizen made fun by using a scene from Johny Lever’s movie where he could be seen telling another character that even though I am looking elsewhere, my heart belongs to you.
😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/ZkhX3jcpEA
— bacha yadav (@IndieKnopfler) June 4, 2024
An X user quoted the famous Shahrukh Khan reference of “Palat” as the voice of INDIA.
#PaltuChacha pic.twitter.com/BojXgYHoUh
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) June 4, 2024
Another account posted a video of a man lured by two ladies at the same time and suggested that this could be Nitish at the moment.
Nitish Kumar today pic.twitter.com/6L0QZgJRe4
— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) June 4, 2024
Another meme that is gaining a lot of traction is of Gandhi smiling, quoting, “Aa gaya sawaad.”
Sent this to all whatsapp group.
— Narundar (@NarundarM) June 4, 2024
No response. 🤭 pic.twitter.com/36FcJfMcdR