There’s no denying that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is offering us a new improved internet avatar. Through his witty and smooth one-liners, he’s trying to recast himself as a humorous and quirky person.
Recently, he created quite a buzz on social media when he posted a tweet of his dog Pidi on Twitter.
Ppl been asking who tweets for this guy..I’m coming clean..it’s me..Pidi..I’m way 😎 than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat! pic.twitter.com/fkQwye94a5
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 29, 2017
The change is of course, a result of the Congress’s recently revamped social media team and a strong PR strategy. And it seems to be working too. His followers on Twitter have shot up from about 2.5 million in July to more than four million now.
All that’s great, albeit one problem. The PR strategy just doesn’t appear to be original and seems heavily inspired/borrowed from that of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.
One Twitter user has found striking resemblance between their approach. In a series of tweets, the user who goes by the name, @Pun_Starr has pointed out how Rahul has been repackaging himself on the lines of Trudeau who is one of the most loved politicians in the world.
Here, both of them are clearly being the cool nerd talking about all sciencey stuff
Decoding RG’s PR strategy:
Clearly, the objective of RG’s PR strategy is to model him after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. 1/n— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Not so long ago, Justin Trudeau surprised a room full of journalists & scientists by nailing a short explanation of quantum computing. 2/ pic.twitter.com/KLI2QJgQne
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
There were rumours, that RG will speak on AI. I think that may have been the original plan, but dropped later for obvious reasons. 3/ pic.twitter.com/YJCdTvisbr
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Just like Trudeau who recently took to the boxing ring for charity and is quite a fit PM, Rahul’s PR team too showed he is a sports aficionado by releasing pictures of him practising Aikido, a Japanese martial arts form.
Canadian PM is into mixed martial arts, judo & boxing. He even boxed in a charity boxing match as PM. 4/ pic.twitter.com/Ghpz2FcpJm
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Suddenly we are told (with pics for proof) that RG is a black belt in Aikido, and also a runner, swimmer & gyms. Fit like Trudeau? 5/ pic.twitter.com/sie3p1KZ5d
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Oh yes, this always works! Because everybody loves dogs, we still haven’t gotten over Pidi’s adorable face, right?
Feb’16, Trudeau family introduced their dog to the world. Explains, RGs Pidi video. Apparently, cute pet owners are seen good souls. 6/ pic.twitter.com/dBCAkW36Tt
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
One reason Trudeau has managed to win so many hearts is because of these small yet significant acts of kindness which always remain etched in people’s memory. Rahul’s PR team seems to be using the same exercise
Every now & then the media reports a random act of kindness by Canadian PM. Like this one, where he sat on the Parliament steps. 7/ pic.twitter.com/ZiN3fR9g5h
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Years after Nirbhaya case, we are told that RG has been helping Jyoti Singh’s brother, even to the extent of mentoring him, & pep talking 9/ pic.twitter.com/i8FK7382sW
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Brace yourselves for more comments on social media like this one, (Keep in mind tweet 5 above) to push the “fit like Trudeau” image. 10/ pic.twitter.com/Tx3atT3wDJ
— IRONY MAN™ (@Pun_Starr) November 2, 2017
Whether these are mere coincidences or not, the striking similarities between the two can’t be ignored!