As the Narendra Modi government completed a year with a slew of celebratory events and publicity campaigns on Tuesday, it was literally raining catchlines online with several Opposition parties creatively countering the official blitzkrieg.
If the government and the BJP were promoting ‘Saal Ek, Shuruaat Anek’ (One Year, Many Beginnings), the Congress sought to puncture the balloon with ‘Ek Saal, Desh Badhal’ (One year, country in a sorry state), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) added insult to injury with ‘Ek Saal, Bura Haal’’ (One Year, Bad Times)’ and the Aam Aadmi Party drove the proverbial last nail in the coffin with ‘RIP Achche Din.’
Caricature of PM With the catchline — ‘Ek Saal, Desh Badhal, Yeh Hain Suit Boot Sarkar’ — the Congress released a series of cartoons on social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp, asking party’s units to blow them up into hoardings if they so choose.
While most of the cartoons have a “suited-booted” caricature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a typical one reads: ‘Bahri Sarkar, Nahin Sunti Kisan Ki Pukar, Aisi Rahin Modi Sarkar’ (A deaf administration doesn’t hear the cry of farmers: that’s the Modi government). While the Congress has run a systematic country-wide counter campaign, using press conferences, TV interviews, pamphlets, posters and cartoons to get its message across, the CPI(M) has been mostly on the social media. As with the Congress, the CPI(M) has also lampooned the Modi government, putting out a series of tweets and Facebook posts listing the current dispensation’s shortcomings, and posting songs that pick holes in the official narrative.
100 press meets Over five days ( May 20, 22, 23, 24 and 25) running up to the government’s first anniversary on Tuesday, the Congress held over a 100 press conferences across the country in all major State capitals as well as big towns to counter the government’s claims on its achievements over the last 12 months.
On each day, the party placed the BJP-led government’s record in a different area under the scanner. Finally, on Tuesday, the Congress leaders in both Houses of Parliament, Mallikarjuna Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, addressed the Press in the capital to sum up the year, while releasing a booklet on the occasion.
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Best poised to deliver results
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Hashtags that trended under #ModiSarkar
Here's a look at few hashtags that trended this year under the Modi regime, triggering some fairly heated online exchanges.
