An animated video shared by a Janata Dal (United) legislator, portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the mythological demon Ravan, is the latest salvo in a social media war with the State’s Opposition BJP.
JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) on October 25, showing Mr. Modi as Ravan and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a time-bomb going off inside the demon’s stomach, exploding after a countdown to 2024.
The video was allegedly a response to BJP State president Samrat Choudhary, who had also posted an animated video on X on October 24, projecting the Bihar CM as Ravan’s brother Kumbhakaran, former CM Lalu Prasad Yadav as Ravan, and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav as Ravan’s son Meghnath. The video depicted the people of Bihar killing them.
‘Al-Qaeda mentality’
BJP spokesperson Arvind Singh claimed that the video shows that the JD(U) has the mentality of Islamic terror groups Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba, asking whether Mr. Kumar wished to follow the path of Osama bin Laden. The JD(U) wants to push India into terrorist thoughts through its politics of Muslim appeasement, he added.
“What mentality does Neeraj Kumar want to show through such animation? Does he want to show Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber? Is he a suicide bomb for Bihar or following the path of Osama bin Laden?” Mr. Singh said.
Another BJP spokesperson Kuntal Krishna used the structure of the mythological tale to label Mr. Kumar and Mr. Yadav as the evils facing Bihar.
“Dussehra symbolises the victory of goodness over evil. It is a celebration of the god of goodness Maryada Purushottam Ram over evil Ravan. At present, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad gang is the biggest evil for Bihar. To fulfill his wish of remaining in power, Nitish Kumar paved the way for Mr. Prasad and his gang to return to government, initiating another era of Jungle Raj, lawlessness and corruption in Bihar,” he said. “This Dussehra, BJP wishes that people of Bihar defeat and burn these Ravans of Bihar, who have forced Bihar into another era of non-development,” he added.
‘Inflation, unemployment bombs’
Mr. Neeraj Kumar, on the other hand, pointed out that it was the BJP State chief who had first released an objectionable cartoon against the CM and his allies.
“I just responded to Mr. Choudhary’s post. These people are fake turban wearers and fake Sanatani. I have not done anything wrong. Inflation and unemployment is like a bomb and it is bound to explode one day. If the time bomb of politics explodes, then the government at the Centre will be affected. If I belong to Al-Qaeda, then BJP belongs to RSS,“ Mr. Neeraj Kumar said.
In what seemed to be a sarcastic response, Mr. Choudhary defended the CM’s ‘image’. “BJP believes that nobody can declare Nitish Kumar as the suicide bomber. It is a criminal offence by projecting Bihar CM as suicide bomber. This video has maligned the image of Nitish ji and being the Home Minister of the State, he should immediately take action against him,” the State BJP chief said.
