Thread by @TormentedBuddha

1. Mid-90's to early-00's was the age of Tendulkar & SRK in public imagination. They were the icons for the youth, families, romantics, common public - they were the Indian dream, jetting out of Pepsi commercials & Airtel hoardings. They were icons India desired to be & hence

2. brands made them their brand ambassadors, spending crores to putt them in your living rooms & on roads. I remembered this because today on the Mumbai roads, I witnessed another 'CAPTURE' of Public Imagination by someone else. Not this #Pathaan, but a self-anointed one.

3. He comes to Mumbai today, again! He is someone who has hoarded our public spaces in Mumbai since the last few months putting big brands to shame with prime OOH real-estate at his disposal. No prizes for guessing who the FAKIR on the Road is. He is literally 'Larger than Life'

4. He was all across during the G20 Summit, he returned a month later when Yogi decided to do a Mumbai bhraman with his entourage. He is back again for with a bang for the Mumbai Metro. While you may be in awe of him, Remember you're paying to put his FACE in front of your face

5. The gov is right in spending crores to advertise its achievements. But recently, the LG sent Delhi gov a bill of 160cr for putting the CM's face in ads. How can the PM get away with it? Why should he? & do you deserve to see his face every 90m of the road? Not even the Metro,

6. track-rail-station is visible. All that is blurred to an insignificant event. All you see is a portrait of loud self-obsession. Your mind space, your public space has been taken over in building one man's image. Mumbai, you're ODing on Modi! India, you're ODing on Modi!!

7. Previously those in power have been charged of contesting in the biggest sycophant contest. PM Modi, however has zero-patience for legacy to be built around him. He wants to be a living God. & he will not stop from building temples around him. There is one he fears though.

8. That fear has brought him out on the roads. He is not walking mind you, so you do not get to hug him, laugh with him, question him. You just see him, as a demagogue, away from you. He is on KINGDOM sized posters looking down at you or waving from cavalcades of arrogance. KING!

9. The man who is walking the road is someone you can question, laugh with, laugh at. He is not in power, as per BJP he is insignificant. Yet, he has forced the King out of his palace. An experiment in non-poll, people approach to politics is being tested out by the Congress.

10. #BharatJodoYatra is pushing limits of BJP's strategic capacity. It has been an unshakeably resolute march to solve India's eco, social problems with a politics of peace. It is worrisome for Mr. Modi's meticulous dictatorial dreams. Pappu has made a pauper out of the king!