Rubika Liyaquat has often had to face ridicule for her desperate attempts to support the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What first made her an object of public ridicule was her famous interview with Modi ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when she infamously asked the BJP leader why he never felt tired. ‘Aap thakte kyun nahi?’ Rubika had asked with visible concern for the BJP leader in her eyes and facial expression. On Saturday, she appeared to go into a frenzy when someone in her team informed her that the BJP had taken a lead in Karnataka and the Hindutva party was set to return to power once again. It’s, however, not clear whether someone was taking a potshot by wrongly informing her about a BJP’s win when even a hardcore Hindutva sympathiser had made peace with a reality of a Congress win. The controversial anchor is now facing public ridicule from netizens with one IAS officer calling her conduct on ABP News illegal.
In the viral video, Rubika could be seen going into hysteria as she yelled, “Tie ho gaya hai, tie ho gaya hai.” This was in reference to both Congress and BJP being reduced to 104 seats each in the early round of counting. At least this is what Rubika wanted everyone to believe.
The reality was that even the Election Commission data, as read by her colleague Dibang, showed Congress in the lead.
But, it appears that Rubika could not care much about the reality in her desperation to bat for the BJP. Worse, she also tried to big up her TV channel saying how ABP was always ahead of the competition in broadcasting what turned out to be fake news.
Continuing with her rant, Rubika said, “I have to tell you that your channel, ABP News, is ahead of everyone else in coverage (of the counting).”
Rubika’s endless rant was complimented by a slogan of ‘Bajrang Bali Ki’ that Modi had chanted during his many election rallies to woo Hindu voters in Karnataka. Thinking that the BJP had indeed won, ABP News flashed an image of the Hindu God, Hanuman, while replaying the chant of ‘Bajrang Bali Ki’ made by Modi in his election rallies.
A visibly elated Rubika even announced that the BJP’s imaginary lead was due to ‘Bajrang Bali ka ashirwad.’
Anyone following the trend of the counting on Saturday would know that the BJP was never in the lead. But for Rubika and ABP News, facts mattered little as their pro-BJP emotions appeared to adversely impact their ability to take the right editorial call.
As expected, Rubika became a topic of widespread ridicule on social media. Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan shared the clip with a potshot as he wrote, “In this vegetable market, Rubika Madam gave victory to the BJP, even if only for a few moments!”
इस सब्जी बाजार में रुबिका मैडम ने भाजपा को जीत दिला ही दी, चाहे कुछ ही क्षण के लिए! 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Zb3dKLdIoD
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) May 14, 2023
IAS officer Sanjeev Gupta was scathing in his observation as he wrote, “@ABPNews & its anchors @RubikaLiyaquat et al really acted unprofessionally by projecting image of Lord Hanuman with chants of Bajrang Bali when they got wrong data momentarily.Caste & religion based analysis by various groups is not only abhorrent but illegal. Pl leave Gods alone.”
@ABPNews & its anchors @RubikaLiyaquat et al really acted unprofessionally by projecting image of Lord Hanuman with chants of Bajrang Bali when they got wrong data momentarily.Caste & religion based analysis by various groups is not only abhorrent but illegal. Pl leave Gods alone pic.twitter.com/21enj7szef
— Sanjeev Gupta (@sanjg2k1) May 13, 2023
Here’s how other social media users reacted;
.@RubikaLiyaquat‘s Josh in the morning 🤣🤣😂#KarnatakaElectionResults2023#KarnatakaElectionResultspic.twitter.com/7BUxiyLE3C
— Md Asif Khan (@imMAK02) May 13, 2023
Sources are confirming that @RubikaLiyaquat didn’t eat food today and she’s in total shock. 😂pic.twitter.com/2QKD4FUVyv
— Shantanu (@shaandelhite) May 13, 2023
Retweet this 100000 times & more to shame creepy @abplive & @RubikaLiyaquat screaming in orgiastic triumph “बीजेपी आगे निकलि हैं”
Good grief woman you must have family who watch you do this dance of the devil. कुछ तो शर्म करो #KarnatakaElectionResults pic.twitter.com/jAjj5288j9
— Be the Change👊🏻 (@nandtara) May 14, 2023
What a downfall for @ABPNews today.. @RubikaLiyaquat and team failed totally… Never ever this was the lead for BJP today pic.twitter.com/VUD4WrxqTT
— 𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒚𝒂 (@workingbravo) May 13, 2023
Watching Rubika Liyaquat feels like Congress didn’t defeat the BJP but the ABP.
— Narundar (@NarundarM) May 14, 2023
Rubika Liyaquat. 😸✌️ pic.twitter.com/735pBiW7QL
— St . Sinner. (@retheeshraj10) May 13, 2023
Rooh Bika have some shame !!@RubikaLiyaquat pic.twitter.com/vS68qt3GaX
— Surbhi (@SurrbhiM) May 13, 2023
Rubika Liyaquat, a pro Hindutva Bohra, would be having a meltdown after the final #KarnatakaElectionResults!!!
At 9 am today morning on #KarnatakaResults, she even made Congress loose the #KarnatakaElectionResults2023!!!
PS: Do watch the video till the end… pic.twitter.com/HmNGqR4xTF
— Muslim Spaces (@MuslimSpaces) May 13, 2023
In case you were wondering, Congress inflicted a humiliating defeat on the BJP in Karnataka by winning a historic landslide. Contrary to Rubika’s predictions, the BJP could only manage 66 seats in the southern Indian state.