Prime-time reports on the Times Now channel on Tuesday about Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s trip to the movies hours after the results of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh elections were announced on Monday prompted sarcasm and hilarity on social media.
The channel’s anchors seemed to have been aghast at Gandhi’s outing to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, labelling its programme about this a “special exclusive” and promoting it with the hashtag #AreYouSeriousRahul.
While the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party was reportedly analysing the results, the Congress leader should have been reviewing his party’s losses, the channel suggested. It claimed that the newly-appointed Congress president’s reaction to the results “exposes his attitude and seriousness or rather the lack of it”.
6 hours after Gujarat loss, Rahul Gandhi was watching ‘Star Wars’ at a cinema hall in Delhi. #AreYouSeriousRahul Watch @thenewshour with @navikakumar pic.twitter.com/LriW6Fefe4
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 19, 2017
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a postmortem on the Gujarat election results, Rahul Gandhi watched Star Wars at a cinema hall,” Times Now tweeted before it went on air with its primetime debate.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has no time for karyakartas, but time for Star Wars | Congress’ ‘part-time’ president? #AreYouSeriousRahul
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 19, 2017
Here is what Twitter users said:
If you want to watch comedy don't go to clubs watch Times now instead they're hilarious. Their topic of debate is 'Why Rahul Gandhi watched Star wars'. Tomorrow it may be - why did he slept for 8hrs while Modi sleeps for 4hrs.
— Kaustubh (@KaustubhThorat) December 20, 2017
I‘ve heard, from reliable sources, Times Now has another exclusive lined up for tonight - Rahul Gandhi ate popcorn in the theatre. https://t.co/43wrbJa7a7
— Aunindyo Chakravarty (@AunindyoC) December 20, 2017
Six hours after Congress lost Gujarat & Himachal, Rahul Gandhi went to watch ‘Star Wars’
— susmita chakraborty (@sush091979) December 19, 2017
He has matured a bit, from CHOTA BHEEM he has moved on to STAR WARS
He is improving, give him few more years :) #AreYouSeriousRahul
*Goes to get a cup of coffee*
— Sinnerman (@weirdbearddude) December 20, 2017
Times NOW: Minutes after client bombs creative, copywriter spotted chatting and laughing with co-workers over a capuccino #AreYouSeriousCopywriter
Times Now has lost its last sliver of pretence as a "NEWS" channel. Don't know whether to laugh or cry that this was primetime tv, but @officeofRG gets brownie points from me for being a #StarWars fan https://t.co/T2B3aYeOXi @TimesNow #News #TheLastJedi
— Gayeti Singh (@Gayeti) December 20, 2017
Investigative report by @TimesNow (using hidden cameras) exposes biggest scandal in Indian politics: Rahul Gandhi watched a movie! https://t.co/mH61iBFnsM
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) December 19, 2017
On Tuesday, Gandhi had told journalists that the results of the Gujarat elections were a “massive jolt” to the Bharatiya Janata Party, The Times of India reported. The BJP won power in Gujarat for the sixth time in a row on Monday, though by a narrow margin. It secured a more definitive victory in Himachal Pradesh.
“The Congress accepts the verdict of the people,” Gandhi had tweeted. The Congress leader had said the results cast questions on the prime minister and the BJP’s credibility, The Times of India reported.