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Journalism of Courage
From Instagram to X, memes about the exit polls and the counting day results so far have gone viral. Social media users took every opportunity to add hilarious twists to the dramatic election results by creating memes inspired by popular web series Panchayat and movies like Gangs of Wasseypur, Hera Pheri, and Chup Chup Ke.
The Indian stock market took a major hit today, with Sensex and Nifty going down. People, however, found solace in sharing memes about it. X user RJDixita shared a meme of two chubby panda cubs tumbling down a grassy slope with a caption saying, “Nifty-Sensex today!”
Another user posted a screenshot from Shahid Kapoor’s Chup Chup Ke with the caption, “Investors seeing their portfolio today be like.”
There was also a meme by @whoisut featuring Om Puri from the movie, questioning his accountant Shakti Kapoor about their investment. “35 lakh ka hamara investment hai, toh 36 lakh ka ghata kaise ho gaya?” (Our investment is 35 lakhs, so how did we lose 36 lakhs?)”
Some X users took a dig at TV news channels that broadcasted exit polls which turned out far from accurate.
@Qid_Memez posted, “Me on my way to find exit pollsters,” with a screenshot from the popular gangster drama Gangs of Wasseypur, showing Manoj Bajpayee’s Sardar Khan ready to attack a rival.
Another meme featured a clip from Panchayat where MLA Chandrakishore Chandu Singh, played by Pankaj Jha, who represented the “Election Commission,” was seen packing up people representing “News Channels” onto a trolley. When asked to join, Singh replied, “Hum aayenge, zarur ayenge. Hum antim me aayenge (I’ll join, I’ll join you in the end).”
The TVF show on Amazon Prime became the inspiration for many quirky memes, with different shots and screengrabs being used.
And of course, when things got intense with the election trends turning in favour of different candidates, the memes reflected the growing suspense.
X user @profblackk shared a scene from the comedy movie Hera Pheri featuring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Paresh Rawal. As the trio hatch a plan to make quick money, Rawal’s character, Babu Bhaiya, expresses his anxiety saying, “Mera to aisa dhak dhak ho rha hai (My heart is beating too fast).”
Some memes also poked fun at the scattered mandate in states like Maharashtra, where the seats were divided among as many as six major parties, as per the trends.
X user @SocialChartered shared a map of Maharashtra with different parliamentary constituencies painted in different party colours, with a caption, “Maharashtra is celebrating Pride Month.”
Social media users didn’t spare Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar either, who became a subject of jokes after his switch in allegiance from INDIA to NDA in February.
At the time, Kumar had jokingly said, “I have already told you that we (BJP-JDU) were together earlier. Twice in the middle, I went ‘idhar udhar.’ But now, once again I have come ‘udhar’ (to the NDA).”
His political ambivalence earned him the nickname “Paltu Ram.” A user named @manogyaloiwal shared a photo of a hoarding that read “Nitish Sabke Hain (Nitish belongs to everyone),” with the caption, “One more time…Switching sides on cards @nitishkumar?” Another user shared the same photo with the post saying, “BJP ki sabse badi chinta (The biggest worry for the BJP).”
