‘Pappu’ has been a common pet name in India, especially the North. In certain context, it is also used to denote a foolish or an ill-witted person. The BJP successfully used the name as a political tool in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to discredit Congress leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi. Now, in 2024, with the reinvention of Rahul Gandhi, the BJP is also reimagining his moniker. This time it is “shehzada” (prince).
Looking to overthrow the Congress-led UPA government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with an ever-so-impressive IT cell, actively ran a campaign to create this image of Rahul Gandhi as a person who "lives in his own world" and whose only talent was his name, “Gandhi”.
The campaign was a success! Even a Google search on “pappu” threw up Rahul Gandhi's images. It still does. Before his talk at Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in 2013, “#pappuCII” had started trending on Twitter with hundreds of tweets being posted under it. Later, netizens and politicians ruffled through his CII speech to solidify the image that had started to become a hit among the masses.
And soon, it became evident that Rahul Gandhi wasn't a politician who could challenge the image that was Narendra Modi.
The writer thinks: It is fascinating how these narratives can drive a whole population to sing along.
Over the years, more such terms such as “tubelight,” “mahagyani” (super knowledgeable), and "moorkhon ka sardar" (leader of fools) have taken over. "Shehzada" (prince), too, has come up again as India votes to elect its King. Pun wasn't intended.
Ten years since “pappu” was first used, let's look at the BJP's changing strategies to attack Rahul Gandhi.
“Tubelight” was a term PM Narendra Modi had used for Rahul Gandhi during a 2020 speech in Parliament. During the speech, Narendra Modi referred to Rahul Gandhi's Delhi speech where he mentioned that “youth will beat [PM] Modi with sticks over unemployment".
As Rahul Gandhi rose up to protest, Narendra Modi said, “I have been speaking for 30-40 minutes but it took this long for the current to reach. Bahut se tubelight aise hi hotey hai [many tubelights are like this]”, erupting laughter in the House.
The term hasn't left its spark and does lift its head once in a while. The BJP recently playfully labelled Rahul Gandhi as a “fuse tubelight."
Might be of interest: PM Modi slams Rahul Gandhi for ‘undemocratic language’; says ‘Shahzada of Congress…'
A few days later, PM Narendra Modi again came down heavily on Congress for allegedly turning to seers to revive its fortunes, while also making a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi by dubbing him as “moorkhon ka sardar”.
“A mahagyani leader from the Congress said the people of India have 'Made in China' mobile phones...In which world 'moorkhon ke sardar' live? I wonder what foreign glasses they are wearing as they are unable to see the country's achievement. They have the disease of not seeing their country's achievements," PM Modi said.
PM Modi has often called Rahul Gandhi a “shehzada” (young prince), referring to the Gandhi family he was born into.
The tern again found a mention when PM Modi reacted to the Congress' decision to field Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli. He said, “I had already told you that the shehzada is looking for another seat for himself due to fear of defeat in Wayanad.”
And again at a rally in Gujarat, PM Modi targeted Rahul Gandhi, saying Pakistan was eager to make the 'shehzada' of the grand old party India's next PM as the country's enemies want a weak government at the helm.
While it is not known who and when the first ‘pappu’ was used but these mocking terms have been around for quite some years and like all other times, the Congress MP has refused to entertain them. Like he says, “main nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukaan khol raha hun.”
