From ‘Jhootha Party’ to ‘Ghoshna Mantri’: Slangs, one-liners fire up atmosphere

New Delhi, Jan 25: The upcoming Delhi Assembly polls have turned into a battleground of slangs, slogans, one-liners and AI-generated memes between the three main contenders — AAP, BJP and Congress.
From the AAP branding the BJP as the ‘Bharatiya Jhootha Party’ (Indian Liar Party) and ‘Gali Galouch Party’ (Abusive Party) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the AAP ‘AAP-Daa’ (disaster) and Arvind Kejriwal the ‘Ghoshna Mantri’ (minister of announcements) — the war of words has taken centre stage.
Not to be left behind, the Congress has dubbed Kejriwal ‘Farziwal’ (fake) and a ‘Chhota Recharge’ (small recharge) of Modi. As political rhetoric intensifies, memes, one-liners and spoofs dominate the discourse, making the polls as much about narrative control as governance.
Seeking a third straight term in power in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has coined terms like the “Bharatiya Jhootha Party” to target the BJP for allegedly failing to deliver on its promises, such as creating two crore jobs annually.
Terming the BJP’s tax regime ‘tax terrorism’, AAP chief Kejriwal recently released a seven-point ‘manifesto’ focusing on the middle class and alleging that the saffron party exploits this section for tax collection, without addressing their issues.
The AAP has countered the BJP’s manifesto, challenging Kejriwal’s USP to provide free welfare schemes and even surpassing it in some instances, and dismissed the ‘Sankalp Patra’ as ‘Vinash Patra’ (letter of destruction) while questioning its promises.
The AAP has also termed the BJP ‘Ravan Bhakt’ (devotees of Ravan), while portraying itself as ‘Ram Bhakt’ (devotees of Ram), citing law-and-order issues in the national capital. The AAP has also labelled the saffron party as the ‘Gali Galouch Party’, referring to controversial remarks made by BJP leaders like Ramesh Bidhuri and Shehzad Poonawala.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, known for his comedic background before venturing into politics, is bringing his signature humour to Delhi’s election campaign.
Encouraging voters to press the “jhadoo” (broom, the AAP’s poll symbol) button on February 5, Mann has humorously warned them to avoid even glancing at the BJP’s “lotus” symbol, saying, “If you even look at their symbol, you might get ‘motiyabind’ (cataract) from their corruption.” (PTI)