The “Pappu-fication” of Rahul Gandhi.
How India’s biggest opposition leader was disdained through name-calling and memes…
Bharat jodo Yatra(The journey to unite India) that started on September 7 this year is turning out the biggest political move by opposition party Indian National Congress(INC). Congress party, that seemed almost docile and passive in their attitude and action are now somewhat being reconsidered as a true opposition against the Modi-Shah let Bhartiya Janta Party(BJP).
One can’t escape but to think about the condition of INC, a 137 years old party that led the freedom movement and is affiliated to the likes of M.K Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and other such political juggernauts get to such a point of political desperation.
Maybe the answer lies in the elected leadership of Congress and the smart and sinister way in which BJP dealt with that. That is, by “pappu-fication” of Rahul Gandhi.
Who is Rahul Gandhi?
Rahul Gandhi is the bearer of one of the most powerful surname in India. A successor of the Nehru-Gandhi political legacy, familially related to Nehru and politically related to Mahatma Gandhi. He is the Great grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister. Grandson of Indira Gandhi and Son of Rajiv Gandhi, both former prime ministers.
Apart from that, his Italy-born mother Sonia Gandhi led the party through its most tumultuous time post her husband’s assassination in 1991.
This is a legacy that one just can not escape.
Naturally, the Rollins and Cambridge graduate Rahul Gandhi became a part of the ‘family business’ from a relatively young age after a short career in tech-business.
In 2004, he was welcomed with open arms into politics and won the 13th Lok Sabha seat from Amethi and soon went on to become General Secretary in-charge of Indian Youth Congress(IYU) and National Students Union of India(NSUI).
However, the Stephen’s and Harvard dropout was perhaps not ready for the myriad of challenges that are inescapable in public life. His inexperience was audible during sloppy speeches and ill-conceived statements. His capability as a politician was questioned by both partners and competitors.
When it became clear that Congress wants to continue with the dynasty politics and see Rahul Gandhi as their Prime Ministerial candidate — that is when the plan of “pappu-fication” came into play.
What is Pappu-fication?
The name Pappu is taken from the Hindi word Pappu (पप्पु) which is a nickname for a small boy in India. Pappu has been used frequently in popular culture (e.g., A R Rahman’s chartbuster “Pappu Can’t Dance”, Election Commission’s “Pappu can’t vote” campaign and Cadbury’s “Pappu Pass Ho Gaya” ad campaign). Pappu used to mean an innocent and sweet natured boy, but it was also used as a slang for being aloof, socially awkward, and cowardly. Basically not a person suitable for politics and executive position.
And what can be better to disdain a political party than attaching that name to its leader.
Originated as a twitter trend #PappuCII on April 3, 2013 after his address to the Confederation of Indian Industries. The electrified IT Cell of the BJP left no stone unturned to make a “Pappu” out of Rahul Gandhi.
Congress party was in a serious vacuum of leadership after Manmohan Singh. Scholarly politician such as Shashi Tharoor, who was already popular among youth had to step back to make space for nepotism!
Masses were not convinced about the credibility of Gandhi and Narendra Modi was gaining popularity.
“Pappu” became a mock-name for Rahul Gandhi in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP leaders, workers and a committed band of supporters made sure that even a Google search for “Pappu” returned with the profile of Rahul Gandhi. And, if one goes by the talks in reporters’ corridor, the term originated in the old guard of the Congress leadership, some of whom had once welcomed Sonia Gandhi in 1998–99 as “Gudiya”.
Role of Social Media.
Rest of the hard work of pappufication was taken up by the enthusiastic and hard working youth of social media. In the arena of memes “Pappu Rahul Gandhi” turned out to be a champion. Snippets of his speeches, and morphed images with funny captions were shared extensively around the country. The language of social media is intelligible around the country. And it spreads like wildfire through insta shares and whatsapp forwards.
Since then till Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi’s speech and ideas was just a matter to 15–30 second joke on posts and reels that carried no political viability.
Bharat Jodo Yatra has somewhat started the process of “depappu-fication”.
The beginning of depappu-fication?
Depappu-fication is in my opinion the process through which Rahul Gandhi would return from being a joke to a serious political personality. It is funny that in contemporary times, one of the main arena of politics in the battlefield of social media is memes.
“Those who make better memes against the opposition shall win the election.” — social media.
Using mockery and dismissive terms are not new to politics and has been in use since the advent of print media. But who would have thought that it would come to this absurdity. I guess that’s what distinguishes social media from print media — absurdity.
The first user of “pappu” against Rahul Gandhi is unknown. But, overtime it has been attributed to many prominent personalities like Kumar Vishwas(fellow contestant from Amethi in 2014) to Amit Shah(Oct, 2013) to God-man rapist Asaram.
Taking a swipe at the BJP and its leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has referred to himself as “Pappu” on a few occasions since 2018 to drive a point that he represented a polite and civilized face of politics unlike the ruling party.
In a recent interview, Gandhi when asked about this name-calling, said that his grandmother who is now known as the “Iron Lady of India” was mocked by the term “Gungi Gudiya”(mute doll).
This might be an indication that the process of depappu-fication is consolidating and he is finally ready for taking on the mighty challenges posed by future elections. Better late than never!
Bharat Jodo Yatra would begin its last phase from 3 January.
In his first interview with foreign media, Gandhi portrayed himself as an uniter of the country and condemned “divisive” politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions.
If he was serious about those words then maybe this is the best time to deliver.
The politics of mockery aided by the circus of social media is expected to continuously grow and flourish. The only step a sincere citizen can take, is keep itself well informed to not get affected by media shenanigans and judge leaders by their actions and policies.
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