Cordial tweets replace caustic comments after election verdict

It would seem politicians across parties were ready with tweets to celebrate victory or graciously concede defeat, whatever the case may be. Unlike a campaign that left much to be desired in terms of quality of debate and resorted to open mudslinging, party leaders such as Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to congratulate the prime minister. He wrote, “I congratulate Shri. Narendra Modi and the BJP on their victory in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand.” This tweet, ironically, came before the ones where he congratulated Amarinder Singh, former Punjab chief minister and chief of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, for the party’s face-saving victory in the state. 

It was indeed a happy birthday for Singh, who received personal wishes from the prime minister, both for his birthday and the election victory. He, too, took to Twitter to thank Modi. “Thankyou @narendramodi ji for your good wishes. I look forward to working with you for the betterment of Punjab.” 

In the face of such cordiality, true politicians also knew that the time is always right to start preparing for the next election season. It seems B S Yeddyurappa, state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka, is already looking forward to Assembly elections in his state. “I am confident that people of Karnataka will vote for BJP similar to UP & ensure BJP’s magnificent victory in the up coming assmbly election [sic],” he tweeted.

Omar Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, had predictions to offer for the 2019 general elections. “In a nutshell there is no leader today with a pan India acceptability who can take on Modi & the BJP in 2019,” he wrote. Lest this sound defeatist, he clarified, “Better to face up to reality today & do something about it than bury our collective heads in the sand. A spade is a spade is a spade.”

Most of Bollywood and the sports fraternity chose to stay out of the quandary. Virender Sehwag, who has a quick-witted comment for everything under the sun, remained silent on the elections. The only exception was perhaps the fearless Rishi Kapoor, who wrote, “STOP PRESS. Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi have sent a very sporting message to the BJP... UP YOURS ! [sic].” He also shared a meme that featured  Akhilesh Yadav and his wife, Dimple, inviting people to the inauguration of their cycle shop. 

Pritish Nandy, founder of Pritish Nandy Communications, was more cryptic with his views. “When Chief Ministers lose their own seats, it speaks volumes for the governments they ran.” In a sardonic reference to the Ramjas College controversy, media personality Suhel Seth said of Mayawati’s allegations of vote tampering, “Mayawati didn’t lose the elections. The EVMs did.”

But perhaps the most vocal opinions came from India Inc. A frequent user of the micro-blogging platform, Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, shared a limerick ostensibly celebrating the “Modi wave” in UP. “UP mein ho gayi Modi Sarkaar, Sehwag ke jaise 300 paar, Akhilesh ko padi zor ki maar, desh ki ho gayi beda paar. (UP has a Modi government,just like Sehwag would score 300, Akhilesh was hit hard, but the country will see better days),” he wrote. He then wrote a more serious note about how a “decisive mandate” will allow the “stock market to rock” and for the rupee to strengthen. Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director, Mahindra Group, echoed similar thoughts. “Investors value predictability & stability. BJP’s resounding victory in UP points to long term leadership. Markets may well applaud next week [sic].”

“With this outcome, one would hope  more decisive implementation of economic and developmental policies,” said Harsh Pati Singhania, director, JK Organisation.

Flooding with jokes and memes, Twitter was a laugh riot on Saturday. Stand-up comic Tanmay Bhatt pointed to the irony that Manipur’s Iron Sharmila got fewer votes than Rakhi Sawant. Others still, though, had matters other than the elections on their minds. “India is a big country & election results are not the only issue on people’s minds. Thiruvananthapuram celebrating annual #AttukalPongala,” wrote Congress MP Shashi Tharoor from his Lok Sabha constituency.