Indian election casts spotlight on Modi lookalikes
Al Jazeera
Modi lookalikes have become local celebrities as India’s 43-day-long election is set to conclude on June 1.
Muslim electric rickshaw driver Rashid Ahmed is fondly called “Our Modi” in his Delhi neighbourhood for his striking resemblance to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now seeking a third consecutive term in the ongoing general elections.
If, as widely anticipated, Modi wins the polls, which conclude on June 1 with vote counting set for June 4, he will be only the second leader after Indian independence hero and first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to serve three consecutive terms.
“I have been like this from the beginning. But since Modi has become prime minister, there has been more discussion of it,” said Ahmed, 60, whose white hair and beard, trimmed like Modi’s, along with similar clothing, spurred the comparison.
Living with his wife, children and grandchildren in a two-room home, Ahmed is a celebrity in the surrounding area and is often interrupted at his daily tasks by visitors who want to meet him or take pictures with him.
He is known only as “Modi uncle” to the children there, many of whom he drives to school every day.
