2024 has begun on a great note for Nagpur’s famous tea vendor Dolly Chaiwala aka Sunil Patil. In February, he served a cup of chai to renowned philanthropist Bill Gates. A month later, he holidayed in the Maldives, ostensibly as a guest of the country. And now he has taken the internet by storm with his holiday pictures and videos as Dolly Chaiwala visits Dubai.

The 26 year old internet sensation is now entertaining netizens with his viral video, in which he is seen sipping coffee at Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. In the video, which has since gone viral since it was posted 5 days ago, Dolly arrives at the iconic spot in a swanky vehicle, after which he is welcomed by two popular social media influencers, who go by the name ‘Bade Bhai’ and ‘Chhote Bhai’.

Later, he is seen enjoying the breathtaking aerial view of Dubai from the 148th floor of Burj Khalifa. He also enjoys a cup of coffee along with the two brothers. The clip, which has so far amassed over 10 lakh views on Instagram, ends with him exiting the complex in his car.

Coffee at Burj Khalifa!

Sharing the video, Dolly Chaiwala wrote, “Ek coffee pine Burj Khalifa ke top pe gaye. [I visited atop Burj Khalifa to drink a cup of coffee].”

Take a look at Dolly Chaiwala’s video here:

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A post shared by D🫖LLY (@dolly_ki_tapri_nagpur)

Earlier this year, Dolly Chaiwala gained massive attention online after he posted a video featuring Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Later, in an interview with ANI, Dolly claimed that he had no clue about who Gates was, saying he simply thought the business tycoon was a ‘foreign’ visitor. Dolly mentioned that they didn’t have any conversation during the shoot, while Gates just stood beside him while he focused on making his tea. Interestingly, Gates’ post enjoying the tea gave an extra fillip to Dolly’s social media career. He has now expressed his desire to serve tea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the future.

About Dolly Chaiwala

Dolly became a social media sensation because of his theatrics while serving hot cups of tea at his stall at the Civil Lines near St Ursula School, Nagpur. He dresses up like southern superstar Rajinikanth, who Dolly idolizes. Many celebrities like Bollywood actor Nimrit Kaur and Bigg Boss star and influencer Anurag Dobhal have visited Dolly’s tapri (tea stall) in the past. Dolly has close to three million followers on Instagram and is also a YouTube vlogger.

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A post shared by D🫖LLY (@dolly_ki_tapri_nagpur)

YouTuber and Political Influencer Dhruv Rathee’s YouTube channel will now be streaming in five different Indian regional languages. Rathee announced this update on his X profile on Thursday 18th April, pleasantly surprising his current 17.8M subscriber community on YT. The new channels will be available in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada and Marathi, allowing him to reach out to a much larger audience than he already has.

Launching in 5 Indian Languages today!

Share with your friends from these states! The most important video is already live on these channels.

Tamil-https://t.co/iIAY46UONr

Telugu- https://t.co/uHUFmMWOY2

Bengali-https://t.co/Ps41JJ8VuC

Kannada-https://t.co/UTgIvoU8bf… pic.twitter.com/vuKfLctR8h

— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) April 18, 2024

“Is India Becoming A Dictatorship?”

The popular creator has received a lot of attention this year, especially with the Lok Sabha 2024 elections coming up in May. On 22nd February, he released a particular video which roused just as much ire as it did support from viewers. In the video titled “Is India becoming a Dictatorship?”, Rathee questions the current BJP government and if they are breaking down the democratic foundation of India. The video soon caused a lot of backlash, especially from supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who believe that he is ill-informed and has no right to comment when he is not a full-time resident of the country.

Also Read: Fact-Checking Your Feed: A Look At Indian Political Influencers

On the other hand, opposition supporters stood by him and commented on issues like freedom of speech being hampered in certain states. While there will always undoubtedly be conflicted views on political topics, Dhruv Rathee’s channel saw a lot of traction due to this video and has more than 24M views. Is it any surprise that he chose the same video to launch his five new channels?

“Personal attacks on me are a diversion. The real issue is something very serious if you truly care about the nation. Wake up!”

If you’re on any social media platform in India, it is easy to notice how every political party has been maximizing on the reach of influencers for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. From Ranveer Alahabadia’s interactions with PM Modi to Kamia Jani’s interview with Rahul Gandhi, campaigning is in full throttle to reach young India through social media. While the internet is the main source of information, the problem is, India faces a significant challenge with misinformation, particularly around political issues. While previous generations relied on mainstream media for authentic news in the past, the government propaganda being served by biased channels in recent years has made it hard to rely on them for facts. This is where Indian political influencers who speak up against the establishment come in.

Many Indian influencers/creators have been using their platforms to fact-check claims, debunk fake news, and provide reliable sources of information. This empowers citizens to make informed decisions based on truth. Blindly following the footsteps of actors or mass media personalities without any real background information is NOT the way the younger generation, especially first-time voters should determine their vote! So, whom can you follow to make an informed vote?

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A post shared by Dhruv Rathee (@dhruvrathee)

With 6 million followers on Instagram, Dhruv Rathee is probably one of the most influential when it comes to political content in India. Named amongst the TIME’s Next Generation Leaders in 2023, his narrative on politics in India works to expose the falsehoods spread by mainstream media these days. His video titled “Is India becoming a Dictatorship?” released in February garnered more than 24 million views. While his content has a strong fanbase, it also attracts a lot of hate from supporters of parties he speaks up against. Channels like “An Open Letter” and “Aaj Ki Taza Khabar” consistently put out content to “expose” Rathee.

Akash Banerjee AKA The Deshbhakt, is “Keeping #IndiaFirst with Hard Facts & Blunt Satire” for the 4.07 million YT subscribers & 844K IG follower communities he’s built. His channel is considered one of the first political and social satire platforms in the country, made especially to help the digital generation. Banerjee’s humorous yet serious content constantly emphasizes that all political parties in the country are the same, none above the other, and citizens should question everything in order to help safeguard the interests of democracy in India. In the video attached here, he hosted an interview with fellow creator Dhruv Rathee, discussing the threat of dictatorship in the current political state of the country. With over 9 million views, this interview has sparked many discussions prior to the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections in May 2024.

Also Read: 2024 Elections Focus On Digital India For Votes

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A post shared by Young India Foundation (@youngindiafdn)

Another account to pay attention to belongs to Sudhanshu Kaushik’s’, an Indian American youth rights activist who founded the Young India Foundation. In his book “The Future Is Ours”, he rouses young Indians to think about whether they are ready to participate actively in politics to determine their future. With 13.4k followers on Instagram, his content isn’t as markedly against a certain party but more focused on making the youth realize how much their vote and participation in politics counts!

While each person has their own views and biases, it is important to take a look at different perspectives to actually build a knowledgeable opinion for yourself. While one creator might be leftist and the other pro-right, citizens can view the content to create their own views. The election commission itself needs to put some rules and guidelines in place to prevent the spread of misinformation through mass or social media. Even if a party employs the aid of a micro-influencer, that’s a few thousand votes in their favor just through influencer marketing!