Every political party wants to one-up the other at the hustings. Be it through braggadocio of the most unbelievable kind at rallies or a steady tirade of accusations against one another at various gatherings, every party tries to score a goal against the other to claim moral victory.
Of course, we sometimes find the claims and allegations putrid. Yet there are moments when the exchanges are really funny. And when claims or accusations are presented through the modern-day styles of memes or gifs, many of us go ROFL.
It is therefore no surprise that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is quite a master at the social media game, used a world famous meme to put across a message – that of the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Udupi in Karnataka on 1 May.
In a tweet posted on Sunday from the Twitter handle of the Karnataka BJP, the party wrote that the PM will begin his tour of the poll-bound state next month from Udupi’s Shri Krishna Mutt.
“PM Shri @narendramodi will be visiting Udupi on May 1st, 2018. He will be first visiting Udupi’s Shri Krishna Mutt, and will later address a massive public rally in Udupi,” the message reads followed by the hashtag, #ModiIsComing.
It looked fine. Any party would proudly declare the arrival of its top leader in style. So #ModiIsComing is neither out of place nor boastful.
But then something went…ahem…wrong? The meme that accompanied the text was that of Lord Eddard Stark popularly known as Ned Stark of ‘Game of Thrones’. The meme is based on a famous catchphrase from the iconic franchise, “Brace yourself, winter is coming”, delivered by Ned Stark.
The text on the meme shared by BJP read, “Brace yourself Congress, Modi is coming”.
Here, take a look:
PM Shri @narendramodi will be visiting Udupi on May 1st, 2018. He will be first visiting Udupi’s Shri Krishna Mutt, and will later address a massive public rally in Udupi.#ModiIsComing pic.twitter.com/GTaUZghI2w
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) April 22, 2018
And that triggered the deluge of comments making fun of the BJP. While someone wrote “Vinashkale vipareeta buddhi” another called it a “self goal by BJP Karnataka”.
Take a look at the funny responses:
@RahulGandhi @siddaramaiah VINASHKALE VIPAREETA BUDDHI ! 👇😂 pic.twitter.com/nc7b7fezpb
— SwarnlataINC29 (@Swarn29INC) April 22, 2018
@RahulGandhi @siddaramaiah VINASHKALE VIPAREETA BUDDHI ! 👇😂 pic.twitter.com/nc7b7fezpb
— SwarnlataINC29 (@Swarn29INC) April 22, 2018
Why are u guys cursing @narendramodi such an ending? Even we don’t do that 🤦🏼♂️👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/yv6pgCmj5J
— Suryanarayan Ganesh (@gsurya) April 22, 2018
Thank you @BJP4Karnataka for giving us the idea of what’s going to happen on the Results day ! #BJPAcceptsDefeat pic.twitter.com/pq1bObq2BT
— Saral Patel (@SaralPatel_) April 22, 2018
It’s better not to put out things that you absolutely know nothing about. 😂😂😂 Don’t make it embarrassing for yourself in the name of humour.
— Farah (@farahzai) April 22, 2018
That is a terrible meme to use. You guys have no clue about GoT, right? 😀😂😁
— Subhash Pais (@Subhash_ati9) April 22, 2018
To the uninitiated, Ned Stark – the most important character in the Season 1 of the series – is not the hero. The character is written off at the end of the first season. GOT fans see Ned Stark as someone who meets defeat and a tragic end in the story.
Also Read: In pictures | ‘Game of Thrones’ peek: Winter has already arrived in King’s Landing