Push-up politics: Are Indian netas responding to Pakistan's original 'fitness challenge'?

Between snarky remarks about the government’s #FitnessChallenge having ulterior motives of preparing people to walk in the wake of rising fuel prices, critics and members of the Opposition issuing Prime Minister Narendra Modi challenges about “Achhe Din”, his college degree and other things and, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians uploading videos of them trying to exercise  — Kiren Rijiju, Manoj Tiwari, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Jayant Sinha and more — and sportspersons and sundry celebrities complying, the question that no one is asking is — who challenged Union minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to doing push-ups on Twitter? After all, this is what brought the Jane Fonda-like fitness craze into mainstream politics, days after the ruling party lost face in an uber-important state election!

A little bit of digging around and you will find that this fitness challenge has its origins, not in distractions from failures of the state, messy economic conditions and other governmental embarrassments, no. It is, in fact, yet another classic case of one-upmanship. And who else but Pakistan comes to mind when such exercises (pun unintended) take place.

Rathore’s frantic attempts to flex his muscle (physical, not political) is nothing but a long-delayed reaction to a challenge thrown at India by its “loving” neighbour.

Sardar Muhammad Bux Khan Mahar, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and a young face in the Sindh provincial government, in 2016 set aside his party’s socialist-progressive ideologies for a bit and got down to proving his machismo. The 30-year-old, newly appointed sports minister, in an online video, challenged the Punjab provincial ministers, especially the sports minister, to do 50 push-ups to prove they were as fit as him.

"I think no one can beat me in doing 50 push-ups," he said, adding, “For the first time a sportsman will run this department.”

Of course, Mahar was heavily criticised for engaging in the politics of push-ups, but not before the minister threw another tough challenge: "Let's have an arm-wrestling [match]. I'm ready for it. Are you?"

As of yet, the arm-wrestling challenge seems to have not been accepted by Indian politicians and BJP supporters. But it is only a matter of time before this too turns mainstream. After all, 2019's Lok Sabha polls are close by and nothing sells one’s worth as a political heavyweight in India other than some Pakistan-bashing — mixed with aggressive machismo.

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