Memes in India are a way to poke fun at politicians and their actions, often highlighting hypocrisy or absurdity. They comment on current events, policies, and societal issues, making people think and laugh. Indians love humour, satire and memes make politicians more relatable and human. Memes are also a form of expression, allowing people to voice opinions without directly confronting authorities. Memes spread fast on social media, making them a popular way to engage with politics.
Memes on politicians are widely popular in India because they serve as a potent form of political satire, citizen engagement, and a modern communication tool for both the public and political parties, leveraging India’s vast digital population and vibrant popular culture.
Popular meme formats include funny images with witty captions, photoshopped images of politicians in absurd situations, catchphrases quoting politicians out of context or creating new, humorous phrases, meme videos romantically linking politicians (mostly) of opposing parties with each other for fun.
As 2025 draws to a close, here is a look at Indian politicians who were most frequently memed in the outgoing year.
Narendra Modi
India’s Prime Minister was featured in memes throughout the year. In 2025, PM Modi remained a central figure in Indian internet culture, with memes driven by major political events, international diplomatic moments, and his own public responses to social media trends. One notable instance was when his “Twitter fight” joke to French President Emmanuel Macron at the G7 Summit in June went viral, prompting a wave of internet humour and memes.
One of the most persistent meme trends of 2025 involved PM Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In a January 2025 podcast with Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamath, PM Modi directly addressed these viral memes for the first time. He took a light-hearted approach, stating, “Wo toh chalta rehta hai” (These things keep happening), which itself sparked a new wave of memes highlighting his “cool” and unbothered demeanor regarding online chatter.
Memes frequently targeted PM Modi’s interactions with global leaders, often portraying him as a dominant figure on the world stage. Interestingly, Chinese social media (such as Weibo) also saw a surge in memes depicting Modi positively, often showing him “overshadowing” other leaders at summits like the SCO.
The 2025 regional elections (such as the Delhi and Bihar Assembly elections) saw “AI-driven war rooms” use memes as a primary tool for political messaging. Opposition parties, particularly Congress and AAP, released satirical AI-generated videos and posters targeting Modi, some of which triggered legal action or intense political backlash.
Nitish Kumar
The Bihar Chief Minister was the subject of memes related to his political actions and public conduct. In December 2025, a video of him pulling the face veil (hijab/niqab) of a Muslim woman doctor during an appointment letter distribution ceremony went viral, leading to widespread criticism and a flood of memes and social media commentary on his actions and health.
Earlier in the year (and in late 2024), he was often referred to as ‘Paltu Kumar’ (turncoat) in memes due to his history of switching political alliances. In November 2025, after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), secured a landslide victory in the Bihar Assembly Elections and Kumar took oath for the 10th time as the Chief Minister of Bihar, social media was flooded with various memes.
While many memes celebrated the NDA’s victory and mocked the Opposition’s poor performance, others were general humorous takes on Bihar’s volatile politics and the veteran politician’s consistent ability to remain in power.
Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been a “memers favourite” in 2025, primarily due to her confrontational attitude toward the central government and her administration’s persistent strict legal stance against social media satire.
Mamata’s “I Will Shake the Nation” phrase became a viral meme topic in late 2025 following her fiery speeches during anti-SIR (Special Intensive Revision) rallies. In these speeches, she warned the BJP that if they “targeted” her in Bengal, she would “shake the entire nation” by traveling across India after the elections.
In December 2025, a chaotic appearance by global football icon Lionel Messi at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium led to memes mocking the state’s crowd management. Critics and meme-makers targeted Mamata’s role as Home Minister, contrasting the “VIP culture” and disorder with the state’s self-promotion.
Memes on Mamata Banerjee went viral following her controversial remarks in October 2025, when she suggested private colleges should not allow female students out at night and that women “have to protect themselves” following alleged rape of a student. Her comments triggered severe online backlash and satirical commentary regarding the government’s failure to provide security.
Mamata vs Modi memes have always been popular on social media. The ongoing friction over central notices and labour budgets continues to fuel memes depicting her as a defiant, unyielding figure.
Rahul Gandhi
Just like Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also a memers’ favourite and is often referred to as “Pappu” in memes! In 2025, the Congress party’s poor performance in the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections provided ample fodder for memes and jokes, especially from the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) social media cells.
Rahul Gandhi’s repeated and high-profile allegations throughout the year that the Election Commission of India (ECI) and BJP were involved in “vote chori” (vote theft) and manipulating elections became a major political flashpoint and source of satire.
The long-standing nickname “Pappu,” which originated in a comedy show and is used by critics to imply a lack of maturity or leadership, resurfaced in memes related to his political actions and perceived failures.
Following the Bihar election results, the BJP’s Kerala unit shared a viral meme-style message with the line, “See you next election with a new bomb… Until then, ‘Back to Pattaya’,” mocking his campaign efforts and suggesting he was going on holiday after defeat.
There were also instances of explicit fake news and misogynistic content, such as a controversial video during the Bihar elections showing Rahul Gandhi’s photo on a sanitary pad, which the Congress party alleged was BJP-sponsored propaganda designed to malign him using AI and deepfake technology.
Nirmala Sitharaman
In 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman became the subject of widespread social media memes primarily due to the landmark Union Budget 2025 announcements. Unlike previous years where “Nirmala Tai” was often targeted with criticism, the 2025 memes were mostly celebratory and humorously acknowledged a significant shift in her tax policy.
Netizens celebrated the announcement of no income tax for earnings up to Rs 12 lakh in the new tax regime. Memes depicted her as a cricketer hitting sixes or as a “messiah” for the middle class, contrasting with her former nickname “Vasooli Tai” (Tax Collector).
The budget’s heavy allocation for Bihar—including a dedicated Makhana (foxnut) Board—sparked a meme fest. Social media users joked that the “B” in Budget stood for “Bihar,” using movie dialogues like Ranbir Kapoor’s “Papa” from Animal to represent Bihar’s prominence in the government’s plans.
Social media was flooded with AI-generated images and face-swaps, such as morphing her face onto Jaya Bachchan’s iconic “homecoming” scene from ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ to symbolize the middle class “welcoming” the tax cuts.
In a post-budget interview, Sitharaman herself addressed the trend, acknowledging that memes are a way for citizens to reach out to the government.
Rekha Gupta
The current Chief Minister of Delhi has been a subject of memes related to the city’s persistent pollution issues, with internet users comparing her actions and statements with those of the previous Aam Aadmi Party government. In 2025, Rekha Gupta became a frequent target of memes and social media trolling due to several scientific gaffes, controversial old videos, and administrative remarks. In December 2025, Gupta was widely mocked after an interview where she claimed that the Air Quality Index (AQI) is “like temperature” and can be measured by any device. She further claimed that spraying water on pollution hotspots was the “only solution” to the crisis, leading to memes questioning her scientific literacy.
In October 2025, a viral video showed Gupta admitting she does not read official files before signing them, stating, “I don’t read files… wherever he [a senior aide] tells me to put my thumb, I do it”. This led to widespread criticism and satire regarding her administrative competence and autonomy.
Following her appointment as CM in February 2025, a 2023 video resurfaced showing her breaking a podium and microphone during a brawl in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Memes compared her “promotion” from vandalizing property to leading the capital.
In late 2025, videos of her personally cleaning roads with high-pressure pipes were dismissed by critics as “staged for the camera,” resulting in “show-off” memes.
In June 2025, when asked about comedian Kunal Kamra performing in Delhi, her response—”Delhi aao, apne risk par” (Come to Delhi at your own risk)—went viral and was seen by many as an intimidating remark toward free speech.
Prashant Kishor
The Jan Suraaj Party founder and political strategist Prashant Kishor or PK became a meme subject following his party’s disappointing performance in the early trends of the Bihar elections. “Neechey se check kar”: A popular meme format used a dialogue from the movie ‘3 Idiots’, showing Kishor asking to check the election results from the bottom of the list after his party drew a blank in many early trends.
“Bahut peeche reh gaya na main?”: Netizens used this phrase to mock his political debut and unmet predictions of a major upset.
Following the Bihar Assembly elections, widespread online mockery was driven by the significant gap between his reputation as a successful election strategist and his own party’s failure to win a single seat! Despite an aggressive campaign that included a 2,000 km padayatra (foot march) across Bihar, Jan Suraaj Party failed to make any significant impact, a result that PK himself described as a “crushing defeat”.
Prashant Kishor enjoys a national reputation as a “master strategist” for helping other major parties (including the BJP in 2014 and Trinamool Congress in West Bengal) win elections. The irony of the professional winner drawing a blank in his own electoral test was a prime subject for social media jokes.
Common memes included comparing PK to a UPSC aspirant who helps others pass exams but fails his own, and jokes using the name of his party, “Jan Suraaj” (“People’s good governance”), with captions like “Jan Suraaj ka suraj ugne ke pehle hi doob raha hai” (“Jan Suraaj’s sun is setting before it even rises”).
Tej Pratap Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadavf’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav was frequently targeted by memes in 2025 due to a combination of his ongoing public family disputes, controversial social media activity, and erratic political behaviour, which intensified during the Bihar Assembly elections.
In May 2025, a post from Tej Pratap’s verified Facebook account claimed he had been in a 12-year relationship with a woman named Anushka Yadav, including a photo of them together. The post, which was quickly deleted with a claim that his account was hacked, sparked a massive social media reaction, as users pointed out he was already married to Aishwarya Rai, granddaughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Daroga Prasad Rai (from whom he is seeking a divorce).
Following the social media incident, Lalu Prasad Yadav expelled Tej Pratap from the RJD party for six years and disowned him from the family citing is “irresponsible behaviour”. This public family feud, involving accusations of mental and physical harassment against his family and a political war of words with his brother Tejashwi, was a major subject for memes and public discussion, often drawing comparisons to the fictional character Fredo from The Godfather.
Tej Pratap’s history of public antics, such as dressing up as Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna, declaring himself a “registered pilot” (after clearing the first stage of the CPL course), and various unique public statements, have consistently supplied content for meme creators.
After losing his election, he was seen riding a new Kawasaki superbike in Patna, making social media reels. This behaviour, shortly after a significant political loss and his strong criticism of the RJD leadership for the party’s poor performance, was also widely shared through memes.
Tejashwi Yadav
The Mahagathbandhan’s Chief Ministerial face faced a “farewell” meme trend after his alliance’s loss. Tejashwi Yadav was targeted in memes in late 2025 primarily due to the Mahagathbandhan’s significant defeat in the Bihar Assembly elections and subsequent internal family disputes and controversies.
The primary reason for the meme wave was the unexpected and wide margin of victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Nitish Kumar, over the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in the November 2025 elections. The RJD won only around 25 seats, one of its worst performances, while the NDA crossed the 200-seat mark, providing ample material for social media users to create satire about the opposition’s performance.
Memes circulated widely online, focusing on Tejashwi Yadav trailing in his family bastion of Raghopur in the initial counting trends, which was a significant upset and became a major topic of online jokes. Memes also targeted him as despite optimistic exit polls and claims by RJD supporters that Tejashwi would become Chief Minister, the results were drastically different.
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