‘Sorry, couldn’t send Gyanesh my Phrand!’: Indian memes follow Trump’s Republican defeat
The Republican Party’s crushing defeat in the US mid-term elections and the Democrats’ electoral gains are being celebrated not only in America but also, for rather different reasons, in India, where Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has become the unlikely subject of a barrage of sarcastic memes.
Accused by the Indian opposition of facilitating the BJP’s electoral victories through alleged voter-list manipulation, Kumar has been portrayed as the man who could have saved Donald Trump from his electoral humiliation had he been overseeing the American polls.
As the results triggered celebrations among Democrats, social media users in India seized the opportunity to revive the ‘vote chori’ controversy, with jokes suggesting that Trump could have avoided his party’s rout had he had a Gyanesh Kumar by his side.
“Gyanesh Kumar would’ve never let this happen to Trump,” wrote Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, in a post carrying the hashtag ‘just saying’.
Congress leader Pawan Khera joined the chorus, taking a swipe at the US president on X: “Trump Sahib, if you had taken Gyanesh along, you wouldn’t have had to witness this day today.”
Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan offered his own satirical take, imagining Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologising to his “Phrand” Trump for being unable to send Kumar to his assistance.
“Modi: ‘I am sorry I couldn’t send Gyanesh to you my Phrand! I had to first take care of myself. But now the people here have confined him inside his house! He is unable to even help me now!”, Bhushan wrote on X.
Other users circulated memes depicting Trump approaching Modi and asking, “Bro, give me Gyanesh,” while parody news accounts claimed that Kumar was preparing to travel to the US at Trump’s request to train American election officials in conducting polls.
The online mockery comes against the backdrop of a political confrontation in India, where opposition parties have accused Kumar of favouring the ruling BJP and facilitating alleged electoral irregularities in the Lok Sabha and state elections. They have demanded his resignation, while the BJP has dismissed the allegations as attempts to discredit electoral defeats and create political unrest.