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How woman netting Rs 50L on Kaun Banega Crorepati helped BJP prove Modi delivered achhe din promise

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Pathikrit Sanyal
Pathikrit SanyalOct 10, 2017 | 18:50

How woman netting Rs 50L on Kaun Banega Crorepati helped BJP prove Modi delivered achhe din promise

That the ninth season of one of the most popular television game shows in India, Kaun Banega Crorepati, has become a BJP mouthpiece of its kind, is not lost on anyone.

Several questions on the show seem like endorsements for Modi government’s policies. The colossal disaster that was demonetisation drive is etched in everyone’s memory because of the kind of inconveniences it caused, yet KBC did manage to carry a question as inane as, “Which notes were demonetised by Reserve Bank in November?”

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Not just that, there have been plenty of other questions Modi sarkar ads such as, “In July 2017, Narendra Modi become the first prime minister to visit which country?”; “‘One tax for one country’ is the tagline for which government initiative?”; “Which among the following practices does not come under the Indian government's Ayush ministry?”, besides others.

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Photo: Kaun Banega Crorepati

There were also endorsements for the Digital India campaign, and instead of the cheques, KBC now wires the prize money to contestants, followed by a brief speech on the advantages of digital currency, and the statement, “Digital ka zamaana aa gaya hai (It’s the age of digital)”.

But the best plug for the Modi government on the show, so far, came neither from Amitabh Bachchan nor the writers of the show, but a contestant.

Posed with the question, “Which of the following freedom fighters coined the slogan Quit India?”, the contestant promptly responded with, “Sir, iska zikra hamare pradhan mantri jee ne Mann Ki Baat mein bhi kiya tha (Sir, this was mentioned by our prime minister on Mann Ki Baat)” — and confidently answered, “D. Yusuf Meherally”.

It was the question that won the contestant Rs 50 lakh and earned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s radio show Mann Ki Baat quite a few brownie points. And it would have been just fine had BJP left it at that. But, BJP, sadly, is not one to miss an opportunity to beat its chest.

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The ruling party’s official social media account promoted the video clip with:

Not only that, they edited the video to add this text in Hindi at the top and bottom of the footage, lest anyone forget the prime minister’s contribution to this woman’s good fortunes.

They also paused at the portion highlighting Mann Ki Baat, rewound, and played it again. After all, no amount of praise can be enough, can it?

The BJP government, at its three-and-a-half-year mark, has found that popularity is a fickle friend.

With propaganda after propaganda getting debunked on an hourly basis (read AltNews for that), the economy klutzing (no really) and the myriad regressive ideas of party members being called out every day, one woman, who could receive an education only till Class 10, citing Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat as the reason for her general knowledge quotient — and ultimately winning Rs 50 lakh — is perhaps a win that BJP and the PM desperately need right now.

Prime minister may not have made good on the promise of depositing 15 lakhs in every Indian's bank account, but he has surely helped BJP prove this win for him.

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Last updated: October 10, 2017 | 18:50
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