Arvind Kejriwal wins Internet points for the ability to take a joke
Arvind Kejriwal will be credited with many things in the future. He's the force that led cynics to believe in the power of democracy in a country where corruption is deeply entrenched. His footprints in Indian polity ruled by dynastic power players make him stand out like a sore thumb. But mostly Kejriwal, who upset many with his resignation as Delhi's Chief Minister, will be remembered as the guy who knew the pulse of social media, better than any of his contemporaries.
Earlier this month, comedian Karunesh Talwar wrote a hilarious spoof 'Dharna Dance feat. Yo Yo Kejru Singh' performed to the tune of the popular 'Lungi Dance' from Chennai Express by none other than actor Alok Nath, comedians Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi, Ashish Shakya and Hussain Dalal (playing Arvind Kejriwal).
This was an extension of their hugely popular All India Bakchod video 'Nayak 2', also spoofing Kejriwal. The 'Dharna Dance' video was already popular when Kejriwal decided to tweet it out to his 1.39 million followers. His tweet simply read 'interesting video' but that was enough to split the Internet immediately among those who cheered him for taking a joke sportingly and those who thought he was trivializing politics.
This came at a time when popular opinion was simmering against Kejriwal.
The comedians in question loved him for the self-deprecatory humour. They retweeted him freely to their sizeable number of followers with Bhat even saying "this is why I will vote for these guys." Earlier, the Nayak 2 video was tweeted by Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav. You've got to admire a guy that can take a joke in a political system that encouraged censure and prosecuted those spoofing political leaders in cartoons, memes and video posts on personal social media space.
Joshi said "This has made my week. No, year. No, LIFE".
Kejriwal, whose rise to fame is phenomenal, knows how to play social media. He's been doing it since his activist days campaigning for the Jan Lokpal Bill. He was the brain behind making the Ramleela Maidan in Delhi a thriving, self-sustaining, huge Townhall that encouraged opinions, however revolutionary.
But Kejriwal's activism days are past him and now he needs to take Twitter tokenism to ground, where his ministers have proved in the past to have antagonised citizens serving vigilante justice.
The AIB video wasn't the only link he liked. He tweeted a meme on Valentine's Day by Twitter user @YearofRat showing Congress and BJP leaders exchanging roses at the news of Kejriwal quitting as Delhi's CM.
Kejriwal, who obviously has his eyes on the Lok Sabha elections, is ensuring that public sentiment is with him. His social presence sharply reflects the person he is or aspires to be. It's a good sign if a future leader can laugh at himself.
Great leaders generally do and the masses love it. But admittedly, it wasn't all love and affection. A user who tweeted from the handle @KrishnaBaaluu said "this is re-tweeted by @ArvindKejriwal shows how silly and immature is he?" to the Valentine's Day video.
Bhat wrote an open letter to Kejriwal published in Firstpost. "You're a clever, well-educated man Mr. Kejriwal. Despite having a real degree and not one that reads "Bachelors In Beta/Biwi Of Amir Neta", you stood for elections. In the past, we've put people who have literally not even finished junior school, in charge of India's third most populous state. In a country where knowing the six times table is being over-qualified to govern 82 million people, it's nice to have an IITian like you around," he said.
The good thing that can come of this is leaders of other political parties will be forced to change their public approach to criticism. Some have already started toning down tweets in fear of alienating popular opinion and other will learn in time to tolerate a counter opinion.
