Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the most followed personalities in India, said he was thinking about leaving his social media accounts. “Looking to leave his social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube this Sunday,” PM Modi tweeted late Monday evening.
Among the most followed political leaders in the world on Twitter, PM Modi has 53.3 million followers on the social microblogging site.
He is the most followed leader on Facebook and Instagram, with 44 million following his page on Facebook and 35.2 million following him on the photo and video-sharing app Instagram. On YouTube, it has 4.5 million subscribers.
The Prime Minister did not explain the reasons that prompted him to consider leaving social media, but it led to a request from his supporters to reconsider his stand. His political rivals gave shocks.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi echoed criticism of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders over the recent violence in the national capital Delhi, saying, “Don’t hate social media accounts.”
In 30 minutes, not surprisingly, PM Modi’s tweet had garnered more replies – 13,000 replies – than (9,000) retweets.
Prime Minister Modi was one of the early national political leaders who realized the potential of social media to reach out to people during and after the election campaign with volunteers to spread his message.
PM Modi’s government has announced the most important decisions on social media in the last five years and in the early months of the first edition of the NDA government in 2014, asked its ministerial colleagues to embrace social media.
The election he faced months ago was India’s first where political parties partnered with mobile and media firms to distribute tweets online and offline.
Twitter first emerged as a political tool during the 2012 US presidential elections, and then during the Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East.
His tweet celebrating the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha elections was the most retweeted and liked tweet last year and was accepted as India’s ‘Golden Tweet’ of 2019.
“Golden Tweet” – as Twitter says – was posted by PM Modi on May 23, 2019, and said, “Sabka Saath + Sabka Vikas + Sabka Biswas = Victorious India.” Together we grow. Together we prosper. Together we will build a strong and inclusive India. India won again! #VijayiBharat. “
