PM following someone on social media not character certificate: BJP

Malviya pointed out that neither Congress’s Rahul Gandhi nor AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal were questioned about abuse by their followers. The debate, he said, was “not only farcical and fake, but also an exhibit of selective right to freedom of expression”.

Calling the PM “the only leader who freely engages with people on social media platforms”, Malviya said that Modi “is a rare leader who truly believes in freedom of speech and has never blocked or unfollowed anyone on Twitter”, unlike others including the “previous PMO handle”.

Also read | What was the defamation case against slain journalist Gauri Lankesh?

In his statement, Malviya said that Modi also follows Rahul, “who is an accused in loot and fraud”, and Kejriwal, who has “abused” Modi on Twitter and “told a woman ‘settle kar lo’ when she complained of a party member molesting her”.

However, the claim that Modi does not unfollow anyone was punctured on social media soon after Malviya released the statement. It was pointed out that Modi had unfollowed @DrJwalaG handle after she accused Tajinder Bagga — now a BJP spokesperson — of unethical behaviour.

Meanwhile, the Congress hit out at Malviya for defending Modi. “Amit Malviya’s rabid and sinister response justifying PM Narendra Modi following trolls celebrating the murder of Gauri Lankesh has exposed the fanatical and dangerous agenda of the BJP government and the party,” former MP and head of Congress’s social and digital media Divya Spandana stated.

“May we remind PM Modi and BJP that it is this very thought that led to assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by (Nathuram) Godse with RSS distributing sweets and celebrating the murder of Father of the Nation. And don’t forget that it is for this very reason that Sardar Patel, India’s Home Minister, banned the RSS.”

After Lankesh’s murder, four handles followed by Modi had attacked her on Twitter. The BJP and Modi came under severe criticism for following such handles in speeches by journalists and by social media users. The hashtag #BlockNarendraModi trended on Twitter on Thursday.

Trying to control the damage, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted on Wednesday evening, “I strongly condemn & deplore the messages on social media expressing happiness on the dastardly murder of #Gaurilankesh,” adding, “Expressing happiness on the killing of anyone is shameful, regrettable and totally against Indian traditions. Social media is not for that.”