Mahante’s uncanny resemblance to Modi has made him a permanent face in the city’s BJP campaign rallies and roadshow. PHOTO: AFP
The closeness of these elections, the anti-incumbency wave, and the general unreliability of Indian polls have made this year’s elections one of the closest and most unpredictable yet.
Key contests in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and elsewhere has meant that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has an intense campaign schedule that requires him to stage multiple rallies in varying, diverse parts of the country. The fact that he is contesting two constituencies, from Vadodara in Gujarat and Varanasi in UP has only made his itinerary more packed.
It definitely helps, then, that many Modi impersonators have been campaigning for him. The Caravan reported that Abhinandan Pathak, a physical education teacher from Saharanpur in UP has been campaigning in Lucknow. Vikas Mahante, another Modi lookalike, has been helping the BJP’s coalition partners, the Shiv Sena, campaign in Mumbai. Meanwhile Jitendra Vyas is holding the fort in the constituency that Modi’s contesting Vadodara.
Recently, I inaugurated an electronics store, Vyas told the BBC. Similarly, I’m also called to other events in the city, like restaurant openings and religious functions.
While some of them are Modi supporters, Mahante was discovered at a Modi rally when fellow supporters thought he was Modi. For others being a Modi lookalike is simply seasonal employment, like Vyas, who drives a rickshaw when he’s not on the campaign trail.
Hiring lookalikes during elections is something regional parties do as well. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a party predominant in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, hires a lookalike of MG Ramachandran, the founder of the party, despite the fact that Ramachandran died years ago, the BBC reports.
Narendra Modi is not the only one riding the Modi wave, it seems.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2014.
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LOL, maybe Mr Modi can appoint Mahante to rule India whenever he wishes to go abroad for vacation :D
Whoever's in charge of adding photos to articles must be really bored of his/her job. On almost every article related to Indian elections on ET, there's this Afghanistan Elections tag pasted on the top left corner of every image.