Messages in support, against Modi, Channi flood Twitter

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 6

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Ferozepur got cancelled over allegations of security lapses during his transit via road to the rally venue, netizens started demanding President Rule in the state while targeting the Channi-led Congress government for failing to ensure PM’s security.

The moment PM’s statement saying ‘Thank your CM, at least I reached Bathinda airport alive’ went viral in the media, Twitter was flooded with various hashtags both in support and against Modi as well as Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi.

With around 128k tweets (at the time of writing) #PresidentRuleInPunjab was the top trend in politics on Twitter on Thursday, followed by #ModiDramaBandKro and #IStandwithChanni trends with 32.3k and 30.9k tweets, respectively.

As Twitter has emerged as the most popular social media platform in India when it comes to political debates, it’s not just the masses, even politicians and ministers prefer using the platform to target the Opposition.

“Modi was there to give Punjab Rs42,000-crore projects. Because of these protesters, the whole Punjab is suffering now #PunjabRejectsDevelopment #PresidentRuleInPunjab,” tweeted a user named Vishnu.

Another user, GD Bakshi, while raising a series of questions like ‘Why Punjab police said road is clear’, ‘Why there was blockage on flyover’, ‘Why CM did not pick up the call’, ‘How protestors came near PM vehicle’, ‘What was 10,000 police force doing’, ‘There is always a backup plan’, ‘Why Channi is lying’ tagged the official handle of Punjab government and CM Channi and gave a thumbs up to #PresidentRuleInPunjab.

Well, the supporters of CM Channi, too, didn’t lag behind and started tweeting in favour of the Punjab government saying ‘security lapse is just an excuse of BJP as PM was reluctant to address empty chairs and a gathering of just 5,000’.

While retweeting CM Channi’s tweet which reads: “No security lapse, I was up late at night overseeing security arrangements for his rally. 70,000 chairs were put up for the rally but only 700 turned up,” a city-based resident Amit Singh tweeted, why will CM Channi lie when the issue has become a centre of politics and what was MHA doing as they always keep full information of the PM’s visit and route.