Ashish Pandey 
New Delhi:
It was Narendra Modi versus Mamata Banerjee again, in identical memes that showed them dancing. What made the difference was the reaction. While the Bengal police started a hunt for the creator — and gathered much scorn from netizens — PM Modi applauded the “creativity” and said he “enjoyed” seeing himself dance.
“Like all of you, I also enjoyed seeing myself dance. Such creativity in peak poll season is truly a delight!” he posted, retweeting the meme that portrayed him shaking a leg to a popular Bengali number.
Like all of you, I also enjoyed seeing myself dance.
Such creativity in peak poll season is truly a delight! #PollHumourhttps://t.co/QNxB6KUQ3R
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 6, 2024
The meme on Ms Banerjee, that showed her dancing to her own speech, was met with a strong reaction from the Bengal police.
“You are directed to immediately disclose your identity including name and residence. If the information sought is not revealed, you shall be liable for legal action u/s 42 CrPC,” read a post from the Kolkata Police responding to the tweet.
The reaction on social media was stronger, with most people censoring the police. Many said that PM Modi has not reacted to the many jokes and cartoons and memes on him in this election season.
The meme on PM Modi had a caption that read, “Posting this video cuz I know that ‘THE DICTATOR’ is not going to get me arrested for this”.
For decades, elections in India have been accompanied by a laughter riot as cartoonists starting with RK Laxman poked fun at political leaders and the common man. In the age of social media, it was replaced by cartoons and memes, which brought crackdown from time to time.
In recent years, many have faced legal action across the country for posting content on leaders including Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
In Bengal, it started in 2012, with a professor of Kolkata’s premier Jadavpur University, Ambikesh Mahapatra, getting arrested for allegedly forwarding an email containing a cartoon of Ms Banerjee.
In 2019, a BJP youth wing member was arrested for posting a morphed photo of Ms Banerjee on Facebook.
In 2022, a 29-year-old YouTuber was arrested from Nadia district for allegedly creating memes on the Chief Minister. Calling the memes “derogatory”, the police said the complaint named seven other content creators.
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