We may call them politicians, but the Internet calls them cannon-fodder.

Image: Indian Memes

Much has been made of how big a role social media has played  in the 2014 Parliamentary elections. However, as our politicians discovered with bad grace and much chagrin – with the Internet’s great potential for propaganda-spamming, comes the inevitable flipside of being the unwitting subjects of a few brutally honest memes and unfortunate hashtags.

Once Rahul Gandhi started giving interviews, Arvind Kejriwal (muffler and mustache in tow) started coughing, and Modi, well, continued being Modi, the Internet promptly got to work and ruthlessly spoofed them, censorship be damned.

Comedy collective All-India Bakchod did what it does best, releasing viral videos like Dharna Dance and Nayak 2: The Common Man Rises. Not to be outdone, The Viral Fever did a rib-tickling spoof comparing Indian politics to Bollywood. One particularly enterprising YouTube-er even rendered the Rahul-Arnab showdown in EDM form.

As a public service, we scoured the Internet and curated a list of the best websites that parody Indian politics, as it fittingly deserves to be roasted.

1.

Ask Rahul Anything

Image: Ask Rahul Gandhi Anything

The only good thing to come out of Rahul Gandhi’s infamous interview with Times Now, was this faux-serious website, asking users to Ask Rahul Anything. True to form, the Congress Vice President promptly responds with a combination of words from his usual verbal arsenal of Women, Empowerment, Growth and RTI (a neat number-crunching of which can be found here.)

2.

Narendra Modi Plans

Image: Narendra Modi Plans

Narendra Modi meanwhile, has been championing himself as the economic savior our nation deserves, one whose saintly childhood was a precursor to him bailing India out from all  its crumbling economic problems. No one seems very sure of how precisely he does he intend to make this happen, but perhaps this website might have stumbled upon it.

All you have to do is click on the big red button that says ‘GET THE DETAILS’, but that, as we discovered, is easier said than done. 

3.

₹ 11

Image: Rs 11

Not a day passes without a mention or meltdown over Modi and his ubiquitous Gujarat Model of development, with the state being touted as the magical land where the princely sum of Rs. 11 is all that one needs to survive. This standard of economic sustainability is put to the test, and predictably, the results mirror the hilarious absurdity of the claim. We tried it out and based on our choices, Rs 11 would buy us the dhania off the top of Pav Bhaji, and perhaps a pack of Gopal Snack Pellets.

Ultimate survival kit indeed.

4. Our Great Leaders

Image: Our Great Leaders

This Tumblr hasn’t been updated since last November, but we really wish it had. It makes fun of Rahul Gandhi even better than Rahul Gandhi can make fun of Rahul Gandhi (see what we did there?) and seems to have a penchant for using Game of Thrones terminology to call Narendra Modi names.

Several other politicians like Manmohan Singh, Akhilesh Yadav, Rajnath Singh and even Raj Babbar make an appearance, and almost no one is spared. Unfortunately, the blog seems to have been discontinued in the post-Kejriwal era, but it’s still worth a look-see.

5. Jayalalitha Is Watching You

Image: Jayalalitha Is Watching You

Be it wall, telephone pole, billboard, or tree — no surface is safe from the ability of the enterprising Indian politician to plaster their faces all over it during campaign season. This particular tendency makes for some uncomfortable instances, as no one likes being watched by beady-eyed stares, especially when they belong to a certain Jayalalithaa.

(Think of it as kind of like Kim Jong Un Looking At Things, but with a little more Amma.)

Rishi Iyengar comes from Pune, India. He is interested in sports, politics, and a bunch of stuff in between. At the Columbia Journalism School, he’s better known as VP. Find out why by following him at @iyengarrishi