Comedian Pulkit Mani has cancelled his upcoming stand-up shows in Noida, Lucknow and Kanpur, days after his appearance alongside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at an event in Madhya Pradesh sparked a political controversy.
Mani said his Lucknow and Kanpur shows were cancelled due to “repeated threats from goon activists”. He had earlier cited “unforeseen circumstances” for the cancellation of his Noida performance.
Mani was at the centre of the controversy after he mimicked Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a skit with Gandhi at the Congress event ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ in Indore.
In a post on Instagram Stories on Monday, Mani announced that his Noida show had been cancelled and apologised to his audience. In a subsequent post, he said, “Due to repeated threats from goon activists, my Lucknow and Kanpur shows are cancelled.” The Instagram Stories were no longer available after the 24-hour period for which such posts remain visible.
A video shared by the Congress on X on Sunday showed Mani performing the skit with Gandhi. During the act, the comedian appeared on stage mimicking Modi, with the two exchanging remarks before Mani ended the act by saying, “Maa ko kursi do, maa”, while pointing towards the audience.
The performance drew criticism from the BJP, which accused the Congress of turning politics into a “circus”.
Following the controversy, Mani has also shared screenshots on social media of messages he said were hate messages directed at him.
(With inputs from PTI)