Shah Rukh Khan praises the new 'Modi' mandate chosen by India

The Badshah of Bollywood has finally spoken. SRK, who has hitherto steered away from making any political statements or affiliating himself with any political party unlike his other counterparts, couldn’t stay a mute spectator any longer after today’s unbelievably gigantic victory for Narendra Modi and BJP. To express his views and support for the new change, King Khan took to Twitter: “What a solid mandate given by the ppl. It proves again that the only constant is change. Now to move forward with strong & active faith, India.” What’s interesting to note here is the clever use of wordplay by SRK. Nowhere in the post did Modi’s name appear although SRK’s wordings did imply that the actor too, is looking forward to India becoming stronger under its new leader. Interestingly, SRK has always rescued himself from answering questions on Modi in the past (Zee TV’s Li’l Champs). Way back in 2011, when the superstar was in Surat to attend a musical reality show’s grand finale, a question on Modi did put him in a spot of bother. But then thanks to his ready wit, SRK wriggled out of the situation with ease by saying, “I can be in trouble in both cases if I say something good about Mr. Modi or bad. People would not allow me to leave Surat, please don’t ask questions on politics.” More recently, when SRK celebrated his birthday with the media at his palatial residence, a scribe’s question on Modi only elicited a dimpled smile from the actor and further questions on Modi were strictly disallowed by his publicist. Actors and their reluctance to comment on politics and politicians are understandable given that even a small statement could end up whipping an unnecessary controversy. But with Modi’s tsunami like victory, even the most diplomatic of all had no option but to graciously praise the man of the moment.