Twitter, once the soul of BJP’s political struggle, has now become a burden: Shiv Sena | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Twitter, once the soul of BJP’s political struggle, has now become a burden: Shiv Sena

By | Edited by Ayshee Bhaduri, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Jun 07, 2021 03:00 PM IST

Twitter and the Centre have been at loggerheads over the new information technology rules. Twitter was sent “last notice” asking it to comply with the new IT rules, issued as a “gesture of goodwill” on Saturday.

Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana hit out at the Centre over the ongoing standoff between microblogging site Twitter and the Union government. In its editorial published on Monday the Shiv Sena said Twitter has “become a burden” for the government which they want to “throw away”.

The Saamana editorial further states that the opposition has now learned how to effectively use Twitter and are taking on the BJP in states like West Bengal and Bihar creating panic within the ranks of the ruling party. (HT File)(HT_PRINT)
The Saamana editorial further states that the opposition has now learned how to effectively use Twitter and are taking on the BJP in states like West Bengal and Bihar creating panic within the ranks of the ruling party. (HT File)(HT_PRINT)

"Earlier, Twitter was the soul of political struggle or campaign for the BJP or the Modi government. Twitter has now become a burden for them and the Modi government has reached the extent of deciding whether to throw this burden away. Today, all the media in the country is under the complete control of the Modi government, except the mediums like Twitter." the editorial stated.

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Alleging the social media platform was being used for “mudslinging” and “character assassination” during the 2014 election campaign and that the ruling party was more active online than it was on the ground at that time.

"In the last few years, a campaign of mud hurling, character assassination is being run on social media. No political party other than BJP knew how to make full use of it. In 2014, the BJP had mastered this task. In the campaign of that time, the BJP army was more active in the cyber world and less on the ground.”


"Under what rules did the objectionable words used for Rahul Gandhi on Twitter and Facebook? What are the adjectives used for a senior leader like Dr Manmohan Singh? From Uddhav Thackeray, who has spent life in politics and social service to politicians like Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar, Priyanka Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, etc, character assassination campaign was launched against opposition leaders," questioned Saamana.

The editorial further states that the opposition has now learned how to effectively use Twitter and are taking on the BJP in states like West Bengal and Bihar creating panic within the ranks of the ruling party.

"As long as these attacks were going on in a one-sided manner, the BJP members were happy, but when the opposition launched attacks by deploying equally capable cyber forces, then there was panic in the BJP camp. In West Bengal polls, Trinamool Congress' Mohua Moitra and Derek O'Brien injured the BJP with the double-edged sword of Twitter. In the Bihar elections, Tejashwi Yadav exposed Modi and Nitish Kumar through Twitter," the editorial said.

The editorial also talks about the government’s mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic which was amplified by social media platforms like Twitter, stating that the images of "dead bodies flowing in the Ganges, pyre burning continuously in Varanasi and Gujarat, ambulance queues outside the crematoriums reached the world and the working style of the BJP government was exposed".

Twitter and the Centre have been at loggerheads over the new information technology rules. Twitter was sent “last notice” asking it to comply with the new IT rules, issued as a “gesture of goodwill” on Saturday.

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