Скачать или смотреть Journalist & satirist Urvish Kothari on Gujarat politics and elections

The state of Gujarat has begun to hum with the noise of its impending legislative elections, whose dates are still uncertain. The country’s electorate as well as political observers are focused on them because they might foreshadow trends for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Shaking things up a bit is Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the grandee of the Aam Aadmi Party with the ambitions of winning a few seats in the state legislature if not altogether sweep the elections.

Although generally regarded as an unshakable fiefdom of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, the state has a rich history of strongly contrarian voices. One of those voices is the noted columnist, writer and increasingly admired satirist Urvish Kothari.

Living in Ahmedabad, the bastion of Hindutva, Kothari has crafted a niche for himself on social media with his subtle but pungent and persistent needling of the right-wing universe. He has been a journalist for over two and half decades during which he has written widely read columns and satirical pieces in all top Gujarati publications.

In order to widen his audience, Kothari has in recent times started offering his often-stinging perspectives in Hindi on Twitter and elsewhere drawing many non-Gujaratis among his audience.

Mayank Chhaya Reports spoke to Urvish Kothari to get a sense of Gujarat’s electoral impulses and what it means to deploy humor in dour times.