BJP's 'Baap numbari, Beta Dus Numbari' jibe targets Baghel family amid ED action

Raipur July 18 (IANS) In a moment of political theatre that could rival the best of Bollywood’s courtroom dramas, the Chhattisgarh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took to social media with a post that has stirred both laughter and outrage.

The party's Chhattisgarh official X handle declared, "Baap Numbari, Beta Dus Numbari” - a phrase borrowed from vintage Hindi cinema, now repurposed to comment on the arrest of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel's son, Chaitanya Baghel, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The timing was cinematic; Chaitanya was arrested on his birthday, presented in court, and remanded to five days of ED custody in connection with the alleged Rs 2,161 crore liquor scam.

The BJP's post, however, seemed less concerned with legal nuance and more with punchlines.

The phrase, loosely translated, implies that both father and son are numbered among the corrupt, though the BJP stopped short of offering any actual evidence in the social media post itself.

Congress leaders, meanwhile, were not amused. They accused the BJP of weaponising social media for character assassination.

Memes, counter-memes, and hashtags flooded timelines, turning a complex money laundering probe into a digital slugfest.

As the ED continues its interrogation and the courts deliberate, the battle on the social media platform X rages on, where satire, sarcasm, and slogans often outpace subpoenas.

In the age of algorithmic outrage, it seems the real contest is not just in the courtroom, but in the comment section.

Even as legal proceedings gather pace, political messaging remains the dominant currency.

The BJP's choice of phrase - part jibe, part insinuation - has shifted public attention from courtroom facts to rhetorical flair.

In the age of performative politics, a three-word post arguably shaped more headlines than the detailed ED charge sheets.

Whether this gambit proves clever or crude will depend not just on judicial outcomes, but it's clear; the digital battlefield is no less strategic.

--IANS

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