NEW DELHI: Super Mario, a popular video game, has undergone a makeover in the scheme of political parties in Delhi for targeting each other. Given its popularity cutting across all age groups, the video game is becoming a tool for political parties.
Recently, BJP’s Delhi unit spokesperson Tajinder P Singh Bagga uploaded a 2:10 minute long video titled ‘Your Game is over Kejrio Bhai.’ The Delhi Chief Minister is shown as Mario trying to clear barriers. It begins with Kejriwal’s journey with the Jan Andolan and shows him dumping veteran activist Anna Hazare at the beginning. Characters like lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and Kumar Vishwas feature in the video. It ends with a figure resembling President Ramnath Kovind slap Kejriwal.
The video went viral on the social media, forcing the AAP’s IT cell to respond by uploading a similar video dubbed ‘Arvind Kejriwal desh mein badlav lane ki koshish karte hue’ (Arvind Kejriwal trying to bring change in the country). The 1:31 minute long video shows Kejriwal trying to clear a hurdle but the Narendra Modi government at the Centre coming in his way.
This is is not the first time the game has been used to settle scores in Delhi politics. In 2016, Super Mario was edited to target Kejriwal.
The video game was also used by BJP supporters to showcase the good work of PM Modi last October. The 2:22 minute video shows Modi solving the black money, travelling abroad and winning the UP polls.
The Mario Game
Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario featured as a minigame in the Super Mario Advance series and numerous other games. The video game is popular in Asia, North America and Europe.
In the video game, Mario is portrayed as an Italian-American plumber who, along with his brother Luigi, has to defeat creatures that have been coming out from the sewers.