#BlockNarendraModi has opposite effect

NEW DELHI: After it came to light on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi follows at least four Twitter accounts that posted celebratory tweets on journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder, Thursday morning saw the tag #BlockNarendraModi trending in India.

Some users posted screenshots of them having blocked Modi on the microblogging network. BJP supporters, though, made fun of the tag.

The tweets and the trend seemed to have little adverse effect on the PM’s personal account @narendramodi. The number of accounts he follows stayed the same as Wednesday.

However, his number of followers shot up from 33.7 million on Wednesday night to 33.8 million by Thursday night.

It isn’t clear where the trend started from, several tweeting in favour of blocking displayed either affiliation with or support for the Congress in their Twitter profiles, while others simply joined in. Some tweeted with the tag talking about why they thought that it was an ineffective idea. @geetv79, who has nearly 50,000 Twitter followers, frequently retweets Congress leaders and supporters. She tweeted: “#BlockNarendra-Modi A Person Who Follows & Encourages Abusers, Hate Spewers& Bigots Who Celebrate Human Deaths Deserves to be Blocked.”