PM Narendra Modi takes the first ride on Kochi Metro along with CM Pinarayi Vijayan, governor P. Sathasivam and BJP Kerala chief Kummanam Rajasekharan Living up to their reputation of creating instant and stinging memes of real-life situations, the trollers of Kerala struck at the Metro inaugural on Saturday.
The uptight and silo-like posture of the dignitaries after boarding the Kochi Metro, including that of prime minister Narendra Modi, was noticed immediately by those watching the live footage on television channels.
PM Narendra Modi faced terror threat in Kerala, says DGP
As the prime minister wound up his brief journey at Paalarivattom, in less than 10 minutes of boarding the train, the first troll started doing the rounds. It depicted five people, namely, union minister Venkaiah Naidu, Modi, BJP state president Kummanam Rajkasekharan, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and governor P. Sadasivam.
The trollers used popular Malayalam actor Jagathy Sreekumar's photograph to portray Kummanam. He was positioned between the PM and Pinarayi, in an apparent reference to the vantage political positioning that the latter had gained of late.
Kummanam's recent affirmative statement on metro man E. Sreedharan's confirmed presence at the Kochi Metro inaugural would have prompted the trollers to think up of him as a formidable presence in the state's politics.
Others felt the image represented the invisible but perceptible barrier of political dichotomy thrown up by the BJP ruling the center and the Left Democratic Front, the state. The image deftly represented the resultant gulf between two leaders of preeminence, amateur political observers said.
Anyhow, the trollers seem to be sharp and politically quick-witted. For, it is no mean task to come up with a digital-age answer to well though-out political cartooning and lampooning of a bygone era.
