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00:00 The mammoth six-week-long election in India is now nearing the finish line.
00:05 A few high-stakes constituencies still have to vote though before polls close
00:11 and that includes Varanasi, that is the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home seat in the north
00:16 of India. The holy city is on the banks of the Ganges and it made news on the campaign trail
00:22 when a comedian tried to take on the Prime Minister. Now France24's Leela Jacinto is with me
00:30 to tell us a bit about what happened. Leela look, so we have a comedian taking on the Prime Minister
00:35 in the polls. First of all what happened and crucially was it funny? Well it depends on how
00:39 you see it. I'm still trying to figure who got the last laugh. Now the comedian in question is
00:44 Shyam Rangila who shot to fame with his imitations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that had audiences
00:50 in stitches. Let's take a listen to him.
00:53 [Shyam Rangila's Imitations]
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01:36 So now on May 1st, Rangila announced his intention to run against Modi as an independent. And this wasn't a joke. In a taped message on X, he provided his reasons. And he said he was going to run from Varanasi because, quote, "These days, nobody knows who will withdraw their nomination.
01:46 Adding, "We saw what happened in Surat and Indore." Now he was referring to the western Indian city of Surat, where the candidate from Modi's BJP party was declared the winner before the elections were even held.
02:10 This is because the election commission rejected the main Congress party's candidate on a technicality, and then all the other candidates withdrew their nominations, and many cited intimidation by the ruling party.
02:24 So Rangila was actually taking on an issue that has been overlooked or just glossed over in the Indian media when he declared, "I will go to Varanasi and I will file my nomination." And that triggered part two of the Modi versus Rangila saga.
02:40 All right, well, I'm really closely following this. Tell us more. What was part two? Did he end up going to Varanasi?
02:45 He did. And he shone a spotlight on the nomination process, which was Kafkaesque. You know, candidates standing in long lines, being asked to return the next day and then the next, forms not being given, the oath to the Indian constitution not being administered.
03:02 This is part of the process. You know, Rangila had a team of lawyers. The lawyers weren't allowed to enter the election commission office. Now, in India's multi-phased elections, the candidates registered their nominations in phases.
03:17 The last day for Varanasi's nomination was May 14th. That's when Prime Minister Modi arrived to file his nomination with an entourage that included the interior, defense ministers, chief ministers of various states and a massive security presence.
03:35 So that day, the election commission offices, these are the local election commission offices, was closed to everyone besides the prime minister's entourage. Now, in the end, Rangila's nomination was rejected, again, on a technicality.
03:49 He was not the only one. Out of the 41 candidates that initially filed their nominations, only seven were selected, including the Modi and the Congress party. And they face off in the last phase of the election on June 1st.
04:04 But Rangila failed, but he did succeed in asking some critical questions. Are these elections free and fair? Is there a level playing field? And are the rules of the game being applied fairly?
04:16 You know, satirists, they say, take on difficult issues by using humor, and Rangila did just that.
04:22 Yeah, that's so interesting. Look, are other satirists attempting this as well? Or did Rangila act alone here?
04:30 Well, Rangila is not the only one. But it must be said that a lot of Indian comedians don't touch on sensitive and political issues.
04:39 That's because in Modi's India, being a comic has serious consequences. You know, the rise in Hindu fundamentalism has been accompanied by mob censorship, and comedians are targeted.
04:52 But there are still some extremely brave comedians on this campaign trail this year who have taken on political issues. And one of them is Shamita Yadav.
05:02 She is known by her hashtag, #RantingGola. And she is really known for her high octane, high speed roasting videos.
05:11 And Shamita really captured the zeitgeist of the 2024 campaign with her hashtag, #NafratNahiNaukri. Not hate, but jobs. Let's listen to one of her videos that went viral.
05:26 [VIDEO PLAYBACK]
05:37 - You know, comedians are taking on extremely difficult issues that are being overlooked by the mainstream media because press freedom under Modi has declined.
05:47 The mainstream media has largely turned into a sort of a campaign platform for Modi, where they focus extensively on his populist Hindu majoritarian moves.
05:58 And very important critical issues such as unemployment, inflation, rising income inequalities are being overlooked, and it's being left to comedians to bring this up.
06:09 And so really, you know, comedians like Rangeela and Ranting Gola are the ones who are really holding truth to power right now in India.
06:19 But being a comic is really not for the faint-hearted in India.