By MANISH ANAND
With television criticism of the government increasingly muted, comedians are emerging as an alternative arena of political commentary, turning satire into a potent tool of opposition.
New Delhi, May 30, 2026 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a fresh challenge of optics. His task gets daunting, for his Cabinet is in the eye of a raging storm. Stand-up comedians are roasting the government, in fury laced with humour. That coincides with the Modi government gearing up to thrust trumpets, to amplify achievements, as the dispensation celebrates second anniversary in the third term.
“Sir, please hold rupee for once. Who knows the rupee, just like the jhaal-murhi that you had made famous during the West Bengal Assembly elections, will also gain some strength,” Shekhar Suman fired his humour with laughter blast from his supporting chorus.
Abhijeet Ganguly’s three-year-old reel in which he roasts Modi for his “glow: has millions of views, while still trending on the internet. “When Barack Obama became the US President, he looked like a sturdy NBA player. When he exited the White House, Obama looked like a Kenyan marathon player. But Modi ji keeps glowing only,” said Ganguly.
Suman is targeting Modi as he seeks to wrest the humour stage. He offers a counter narrative to Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, who shot to fame after asking the Prime Minister why he would not take questions in Norway, which she described as the world’s freest press country. “In India, the media is most free, for they can say and write anything — can show president of the other country arrested; can show a port city bombed; and can even say someone is dead while he’s still alive,” said Suman amid a burst of laughter from his chorus.
Kunal Kamra and his tribe of stand-up comedians are roasting the Prime Minister for his appeal to the people to not buy gold and diamond for one year. Modi is also facing humour-laced attacks on his gifting “Melodi” toffees to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The claim of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in the Supreme Court on the NEET row that the “Honourable Prime Minister is personally looking into the issue” has added to the laugher arsenals of the stand-up comedians. “If the NEE papers were leaked from inside the National Testing Agency, what will the Indian Air Force do by transporting the question papers,” the comedians are asking.
From foreign policy to the Indian economy, from the NEET row to elections, the stand-up comedians have created a parallel universe of Modi criticism. Political observers argue that the stand-up comedians are filling up the vacuum created by television media, which has largely stopped criticising the government.
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