Sources in BJP say the caustic website is the handiwork of the party’s state team in Madhya Pradesh, which is due to go to polls end of this year.
New Delhi: With elections around the corner, political parodies are bound to mushroom across the internet space, and Congress president Rahul Gandhi is at the receiving end of one such elaborate online prank, an obvious handiwork of his political opponents.
Taking off from Gandhi’s constant references to ‘Made in…’ in his rally speeches, a spoof website called ‘Made In Amethi’ has sprung up, with acerbic content that targets the Congress president and his party.
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www.madeinamethi.com says Gandhi is its CEO, with a fake mission statement: “My dream is to setup (sic) so many mobile factories in India that the number of phones surpass the number of phone users.”
Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) say the website is the handiwork of the party’s state team in Madhya Pradesh, which is due to go to polls in the next couple of months.
In the ‘upcoming events’ section, the website lists a ‘Made in Jabalpur phones’ event on 6 October and a ‘Made in Indore’ event on 15 October. Both events feature a ‘book now’ option.
“Our CEO is set to launch Made in Jabalpur mobile phones while he addresses MIA employees in Jabalpur,” the website says.
In reality, Gandhi is scheduled to visit Jabalpur, perform Narmada Puja at Gwari Ghat and hold a roadshow on 6 October. He is also supposed to be in Indore on 15 October for campaigning.
The ‘Made in…’ fixation
Gandhi’s election speeches, more often than not, have had a ‘Made in…’ element, through which he attempts to talk about encouraging manufacturing across different regions of the country.
For instance, addressing a rally in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh, at the end of September, Gandhi had said he is waiting for the day when a Chinese takes a selfie on a phone that’s ‘Made in Chitrakoot’.
At a rally in MP’s Mandsaur in June, Gandhi talked about ‘Made in Mandsaur’ phones.
One of the earliest examples of this was in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, in 2014, where Gandhi said he wanted to see the US president wear a ‘Made in Mirzapur’ watch. Then, in February 2017, during the Uttar Pradesh election campaign, Gandhi once again said he wanted to see Obama’s bed sheet marked ‘Made in UP’, following it up the next month by saying while “preparing food in the kitchen, Obama’s wife would admire the utensils, which would be engraved with the words: Made in Jaunpur”.
The makers of the website have taken this fixation to the extreme.
“We aim sell (sic) various imaginary products, that our CEO Shri Rahul Gandhi launches at his various rallies. In case the website is down due to heavy traffic please bear with us like we do with Rahul ji. This website is a work of fiction, very much like Rahul Ji’s rallies,” the site states in the ‘about us’ section.
It goes on to offer products such as ‘Patli Pin Wala Charger’, ‘PotaGoLD 24 Carat’ — a ‘gold-making machine’ — and ‘Rahul-G’ biscuits.
On the ongoing Rafale deal controversy, where Gandhi has been at the forefront of a pointed attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the website has a ‘Rafail Laughter Jet’ for sale. All products are priced at Rs 420.
Board of ‘dictators’ and testimonials
There is also a ‘board of dictators’, comprising Lok Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajasthan state Congress chief Sachin Pilot and former union minister Shashi Tharoor. The website takes a dig at Scindia and Pilot for being political dynasts, and at Tharoor for his use of complicated English.
Then, there are testimonials from PM Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Chouhan.
“I congratulate Congress President Shri Rahul Gandhi ji on his new venture. Hope the website grows faster, unlike his political career. Wink! Wink! Hugs!” Modi’s purported testimonial reads, hinting at Gandhi’s famous hug-and-wink episode in the Lok Sabha during the no-confidence motion in July this year.
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A section called MIA TV spoofs some popular scenes from Hindi movies.
Bizarre campaign methods
Madhya Pradesh has seen several such bizarre campaign methods ahead of the forthcoming elections.
Recently, a number of viral videos — spread by BJP teams and sympathisers — did the rounds on social media, portraying Chouhan as ‘Baahubali’ and Scindia as the antagonist ‘Bhallaladeva’.
Yet another parody website — rahulgandhiachievements.com — has also sprung up. The website has intentionally been left blank.
I don’t think it is work of BJP IT cell. It requires a class of humor which is found only with left parties. I think it is work of politeburo to weaken congress before 2019 general election so left could seen as only challenge to Hindutva.
Nothing wrong in giving back to Rahul what he hurls at the PM daily.
A Made in Mirzapur carpet in the Oval Office is doable.