Seven new words Indian politics taught us in 2014
2014 has been one of the most interesting and intense years in politics. It saw the decline of the Congress, the magnificent rise of the BJP and many other new political scenarios. This year also saw the emergence of new political words, which were widely used for campaigning by various parties and their supporters. Here are the top seven words which emerged this year and will remain etched in our memories in time to come.
1. Love Jihad: Coined by fringe Hindu groups, it refers to the alleged activity in which Muslim boys and men reportedly target Hindu girls by faking love and then making them convert to Islam by marriage. It triggered large scale controversies when Hindu groups launched aggressive campaigns and distributed posters to counter the so called "Jihadis".
2. AAPtards: AAP has changed India's political discourse ever since it came into existence. AAPtards refers to AAP fans and supporters, who go to any extent to defend Kejriwal and AAP's actions. It caught much attention after the Delhi elections last year. Today, you don't have to be even a supporter to be called one.
3. Ghar Wapsi: This is the most recent word in the vocabulary. It gained attention earlier this month when 57 Muslim families were forcibly converted to Hinduism by an affiliate group of the RSS. Hindu leaders and groups termed this conversion as "Ghar Wapsi" (homecoming), allegedly claiming that the Muslim families were originally Hindu before they became Muslims and they are coming back home to their faith.
4. MufflerMan: Started as a taunt for Arvind Kejriwal, who was always spotted sporting his trademark muffler, AAP fans and supporters turned it into a marketing campaign for the upcoming Delhi elections. Many funny memes and jokes have done the rounds on Twitter using "#MufflerMan".
5. Chaiwala: Mani Shankar Aiyar's jibe at Modi for his tea seller background proved costly for the Congress. Modi cleverly turned it into an attractive election campaign. Along with an aggresive social media campaign, Modi and BJP leaders organised several meetings with tea sellers to promote Modi's humble origins. Hence, Modi came to be known as the "Chaiwala".
6. Modi Bhakts: As we all know, Modi has built a huge supporter and fan base in the country, who will go to any lengths and breadths to defend him and his actions. This fan base has been named "Modi Bhakts", who defend Modi and his actions, blindly.
7. Pappu: Generally used as a term for people who are accused of being stupid, it was vociferously used for referring to Rahul Gandhi, after his interview with Arnab Goswami, which made him the laughing stock. Not just on Twitter and Facebook, some writers even used the term to refer to Rahul in many articles online.