Rahul Gandhi issues first response to PM Modi's 'Thinking of giving up social media' tweet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made a huge announcement as he tweeted that he was thinking of giving up his Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts in a week. He did not elaborate the reason behind doing so. PM Modi is one of the most followed world leaders on social media with 53.3 million followers on Twitter, 44 million on Facebook, 35.2 million on Instagram and 4.5 million on YouTube.

Reacting to this, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at PM Modi and said, "Give up hatred, not social media accounts."

PM Narendra Modi, however, said he is "thinking" about it and he is yet to take a final call on the matter. In a tweet, PM Narendra Modi said, "This Sunday, thinking of giving up my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube. Will keep you all posted."

His announcement about leaving social media amassed over 45,000 likes, 16,000 replies and 15,000 retweets within about 45 minutes. With messages mostly from his supporters, "No sir" became a top trend on Twitter with nearly 25,000 tweets.

'I cannot speak on it'

BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra appearing on Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami's show 'The Debate' said, "I have to restrain myself from commenting on this because until and unless I am briefed, I cannot speak on it. We have the whole day tomorrow, we can talk about it. Panelists and experts on the show can speak but as a responsible National Spokesperson, I cannot."

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BJP Spokesperson Nupur Sharma responded to PM Modi's tweet and wrote, "Not at all Narendra Modi ji - please reconsider!" 

'The world admires him for his insightful, visionary messages'

BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia also took to Twitter to express his views about PM Modi's announcement. He said that if PM Modi's decision "if taken" will be a "very big loss for the social media world and for the common man" He said, "If there is one person who has very effectively used social media for nation building, it is Narendra Modi ji" and added that, "The world admires him for his insightful, visionary messages."

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