Contrary to speculation that he may be going in for a "digital detox", Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not quitting social media altogether but leaving his handles to a few "inspiring" women for a day on Women's Day to "share their thoughts and ideas with the world".
On Monday night, he posted a puzzling tweet which said, "this Sunday, thinking of giving up my social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube" that he will keep people posted about his plans, leading to speculation ranging from the imminent launch of indigenous social media platform like China's 'Weibo' to leaving his handle to women on March 8.
Ending all speculation, Modi made his plan clear in another tweet with a tagline #SheInspiresUs on Tuesday afternoon when he said, "this Women's Day, I will give away my social media accounts to women whose life & work inspire us. This will help them ignite motivation in millions. A re you such a woman or do you know such inspiring women? Share such stories using #SheInspiresUs."
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was quick to take a jibe, saying "Dear @PMOIndia, Quit wasting India's time playing the clown with your social media accounts, when India is facing an emergency. Focus the attention of every Indian on taking on the Corona virus challenge." On Monday night, Rahul had responded, "give up hatred, not social media accounts."
Sharing his plans on Women's Day, Modi asked people to reach out to him if they knew about women who are an inspiration to others. Those chosen women would take over his social media accounts for a day.
An accompanying posted in the tweet said, “your chance to take-over @narendramodi's social media accounts for a day!”
"Are you a woman whose life and work can inspire the world. Do you know inspiring women who have made a difference in their sphere of life? People can tweet or post on Facebook or Instagram about such women. Videos could be posted with the tagline #SheInspiresUs. Selected people will take over Modi's accounts and "share their thoughts and ideas with the world", Modi said.
Modi, who has been one of the early bird among politicians on social media for political campaigning, has 53.3 million followers on Twitter, 44 million on Facebook, 35.2 million on Instagram and 4.5 million subscribers on his YouTube pages.
Soon after Modi's tweet on Monday night, several of his admirers responded to him saying not to leave social media with some saying they would also leave social media if he does so while "No Sir" started trending on Twitter, urging Modi not to quit social media. His opponents asked him to first unfollow those accounts he follow, which spread fake news.
Here is the Singapore PM's video:
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