Mumbai, January 15: On the morning of January 15, 2026, as millions of voters headed to polling booths for the Maharashtra municipal elections, one of the state's most viral campaign trends abruptly came to an end. The popular "Hulku" accounts, known for tehir AI-generated videos of the Marvel character Hulk, have reportedly stopped posting new content, replacing their feed with "RIP Hulku Bhai" and "RIP Hulku Dada" messages. This was due to Google Gemini's guardrails related to third party content.

The Instagram accounts posting "Hulku" reels stopped creating new content after receiving this message: "You cannot generate response to this prompt due to Google's guardrails related to third party content." While the creators maintained that their goal was "pure entertainment", it appears, the scale of their reach prompted a swift response from the Google Gemini. Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Elections 2026.

'RIP Hulku Dada' Instagram Reels

 

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A post shared by Halku Marathi (@hulkumarathi)

 

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A post shared by Hulk_badmash (@hulk_badmash.9)

As the AI videos became indistinguishable from real political rhetoric, automated moderation systems likely flagged the content for potential impersonation or misinformation, leading to the suspension of AI-generation capabilities for these specific prompts.

The Rise of 'Hulk' and the Marvel Campaign

Throughout the 2026 civic election cycle, social media in Maharashtra was dominated by an unlikely set of candidates. Independent creators used advanced AI tools to generate hyper-realistic videos of Hollywood icons like Thanos, Spiderman, Iron Man, and the Hulk delivering campaign speeches in fluent, colloquial Marathi. Marvel in Mumbai: Viral AI Videos Feature Thanos, Hulk, Tony Stark Joining BMC Election Battle.

These "Marvel Politicians" navigated local ward-level issues, with the Hulk character, popularly dubbed "Hulku" by local followers, frequently seen in a white kurta, vowing to "smash" corruption and civic negligence. The trend, while independent, garnered millions of views and became a primary source of political engagement for younger voters.

 

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A post shared by Tony Stark (@tony_stark_bjp)

 

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Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Elections 2026

The Maharashtra municipal cororation elections, held on January 15, 2026, represent a pivotal moment in the state’s political landscape, covering 29 major municipal corporations including the high-stakes Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). After years of delays due to legal battles over ward delimitation and OBC reservations, over 3.48 crore eligible voters are set to decide the fate of nearly 16,000 candidates. The contest is primarily a multi-cornered battle between the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, the reunited Thackeray cousins (Uddhav and Raj Thackeray), and the Congress-MVA front. The results will be declared on January 16.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2026 02:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).