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Wild Donkey in the Middle of Political Row in Crucial State Elections in India

© AFP 2023 / SANJAY KANOJIAIndian voters wait in a queue for their turn to vote at a polling station in the Naini area on the outskirts of Allahabad during the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on February 23, 2017
Indian voters wait in a queue for their turn to vote at a polling station in the Naini area on the outskirts of Allahabad during the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on February 23, 2017 - Sputnik International
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Considered to be a dim-witted animal in popular Indian culture and used as a metaphor to denigrate people with low intelligence, the humble donkey or wild ass is at the center of political diatribe between the incumbent chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and India’s ruling party at the center.

People queue to vote during the state assembly election, in the town of Deoband, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, February 15, 2017 - Sputnik International
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New Delhi (Sputnik) The controversy apparently began when Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav taunted Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan for endorsing a Gujarat tourism department advertisement which shows donkeys in the famous sanctuary at Rann of Kutch.

“There’s an ad on TV which shows donkeys. I appeal to the century’s biggest star to stop endorsing the donkeys of Gujarat. What will happen if the donkeys also start getting advertised?” Yadav said at an election rally last week.

Many within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the center took the young chief minister’s pun to be aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who belongs to the state of Gujarat and served as the state’s chief minister thrice.

Modi has also personally invested in promoting tourism within the state, including roping in Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Not surprisingly, Yadav’s comment didn’t go down well and got a witty response from Modi himself.

Rallying his open support for the donkey, Modi at another election rally responded by saying, “A donkey works for its master even if it is ill, hungry or tired and stops only after it has completed the given work. Similarly, the 1.25 billion people are my masters and I will work tirelessly for them. I take inspiration from donkeys and I do so with full pride.”

Since then, both leaders who are spearheading their political parties’ campaign in the crucial state assembly elections have used it several times to rally their supporters.

Whether the comments will have any impact on electoral calculus or not will become clear on 11 March when the poll results will be announced. But the war of words has put twiterrati on fire with supporters on the both side of ideological divide exchanging barbs and pot-shots on the social media platform.

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