Indore: The Congress and BJP traded barbs on Saturday over a comedian impersonating Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Indore. Standup comic Pulkit Mani took the stage during the student-focused programme and mimicked Modi’s mannerisms and his way of speaking to foreign leaders.
The act included references to Modi’s foreign policy, his mother and a coin trick the prime minister had performed with children.
Mani repeatedly used the phrase “my friend”, mimicking Modi’s interactions with foreign leaders. “My friend, how are you?” he said, without explicitly naming the prime minister.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha responded, “I am fine, how are you Modi ji?” Mani replied, “Great harassment,” and continued using “my friend” while exaggerating Modi’s mannerisms.
The act also referred to Galgotias University and the controversy surrounding a Chinese humanoid robot showcased by the university at the India Global AI Summit.
Gandhi then said, “Very nice to meet you,” and asked Mani to “tell me more”. The comedian then referred to the prime minister’s mother, saying, “Maa ko kursi do, maa,” while laughing and impersonating Modi. He followed it with, “Setting, my friend.”
Mani also mimicked a coin trick Modi had performed during an interaction with children, placing a coin on his forehead to loud cheers from the audience.
The Congress widely shared clips of the interaction on X. Its official handle posted one with the caption, “Narendra Modi ki Foreign Policy”, while another said, “My friend!! Great Harassment!!”
My friend!! Great Harassment!! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/PqetUPxUWp
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 19, 2026
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera also shared the video, writing: “In Indore, the giggling smart one arrived, stuck a coin on the forehead, and put on a spectacular show of great harassment.”
The BJP then hit out at Gandhi and the Congress, particularly over the reference to Modi’s late mother.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami wrote on X: “It is extremely shameful and painful to see objectionable words spoken about the late mother of the Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, and Rahul Gandhi laughing at it.”
“A mother is not a subject of politics. The insult to a mother cannot be acceptable in any civilised society,” he said. “Laughing at the indecent remarks made about the late mother of the Prime Minister ji exposes your own political culture. Rahul Gandhi ji, crossing all limits of propriety in political opposition is neither democracy, nor service, nor culture. The maternal power of the country is watching everything. Such insensitivity and mockery are unacceptable at any cost,” Dhami added.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also slammed Gandhi saying the latter’s “irresponsible attitude is extremely shameful, condemnable, and unbecoming”. Yadav added, “By insulting the honour of our country’s culture and mothers, he has encouraged leading the youth’s future in the wrong direction.” The CM said the “insult” to the prime minister’s mother amounted to “an insult to mothers across the country” and demanded an apology from Gandhi.
This is not the first time the Congress has used a political rival’s public image for satire. At a Congress event in August, Gandhi had hugged party leader Sandeep Dikshit while taking a dig at Modi’s foreign policy.
Dikshit had joked, “You weren’t hugging me thinking I was Meloni?” Gandhi replied, “I haven’t reached that stage yet.” The BJP had criticised the exchange.
The two parties have also been engaged in a wider social media war, including over AI-generated images. Earlier this month, the Congress’ Kerala unit shared AI-generated images targeting BJP leaders, including one showing a man resembling Amit Shah sitting in a Maruti Omni and another depicting Modi at a railway station.
The BJP state units in Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana later shared a series of AI-generated images targeting Sonia Gandhi. One Telangana BJP post showed a woman in a bar with the caption, “Lusiana, Italy. Circa-1970s”, referring to Sonia Gandhi’s birthplace.
The Congress has since said it was taking legal action over some of the posts.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)