Chetan Bhagat was seen as firmly in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's corner since he came to power in 2014.
Highlights
- I was one of early ones to predict PM Modi's win: Chetan Bhagat
- "My job is to hold a mirror to society..." says Mr Bhagat
- Earlier this month, he conducted a dipstick survey on Twitter
On April 1, best-selling author Chetan Bhagat put out this tweet, "Couldn't take it anymore. The country needs to be fixed. Joining Congress. Will be supporting their Karnataka campaign. With RG, let's make a better India," As many Twitter users fell for Mr Bhagat's April Fools' Day prank, the tweet received over 2,000 'likes' and 1,000 responses in just a couple of hours.
The 44-year-old author, whose novels about young, urban, middle class India like 'Half Girlfriend' and 'Five Point Someone' won him a huge following, was seen as firmly in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's corner since he came to power in 2014. But of late, less than a year ahead of the 2019 general elections, the author and columnist has been critical of PM Modi and his party. Earlier this month, Mr Bhagat used his Twitter handle to conduct a dipstick survey asking users to rate the performance of PM Modi's government.
"I was one of the early ones to predict PM Modi's win, now we are facing a new election and everything is up for grabs again. It's not such a slam dunk. This is not me taking sides, this is reality," he told NDTV.
Just before Narendra Modi was elected as Prime Minister of the country in 2014,
he had posted a selfie with Chetan Bhagat, wishing him on his 40th birthday.
Mr Bhagat, an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad,
recently wrote a column titled "Indian youth don't just want to be pakoda wallahs". The author was taking a dig at PM Modi's comment in January this year when he said a person earning Rs. 200 a day selling
pakoda is also employed.
But he insists he isn't taking sides. "My job is to hold a mirror to society, what the mirror shows is what is shows," he said.
Mr Bhagat, who doesn't shy away from expressing his thoughts on various issues, offered his opinion on the recent spate rapes cases being reported. "We need to have a broader discussion on sex and how much of a say women have in this country. Till that changes, these things will keep happening," he said.
On the government's move to amend the law to introduce death penalty for rape of minors under 12 years of age, the author said, "A 360 degree approach is needed to solve this and one announcement won't do it, even if it may help."