Narendra Modi loses nearly 3 lakh Twitter followers
New Delhi, July 13 (IANS) As Twitter began sanitising its platform by removing inactive and locked accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lost nearly 300,000 followers while Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi lost over 17,000 followers.
The number of Modi's followers went down to 43.1 million from 43.4 million.
According to SocialBlade.com that tracks the number of Twitter followers on a daily basis, Modi's personal Twitter handle (@narendramodi) lost 2,84,746 followers.
The official handle (@PMOIndia) lost 140,635 followers. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) has lost 17,503 followers while Congress leader Shashi Tharoor lost 1,51,509 followers.
The micro-blogging platform was yet to come up with an official statement on this.
Twitter earlier this week announced it will remove locked accounts -- which are disabled owing to suspicious activity -- from follower counts across profiles globally.
The move is likely to affect high-profile users the most. With this clean-up exercise, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) has lost 74,132 followers.
While BJP President Amit Shah was left poorer by 33,363 followers, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has lost 91,555 followers.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah has lost 21,878 followers, SocialBlade.com showed.
US President Donald Trump lost about 100,000 of his 53.4 million followers and former President Barack Obama lost about 400,000 from his 104 million.
"We understand this may be hard for some, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation," Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's Legal, Policy and Trust and Safety Head, said in a blog post earlier this week.
The locked accounts are different from spam or bots and in most cases, these accounts were created by real people.
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CPI(M) rebel Kunhikrishnan hopes for 5,000-vote win in Payyanur
Kannur (Kerala) (PTI): CPI(M) rebel candidate V Kunhikrishnan, who contested as a UDF-backed Independent from Payyanur here, on Saturday said he was hoping to win the Assembly election by a margin of 5,000 votes.
Kunhikrishnan was expelled from the CPI(M) earlier this year after raising allegations of corruption in the party’s martyrs’ fund against sitting MLA T I Madhusoodanan.
Speaking to a TV channel, Kunhikrishnan said he had announced his candidature as a mark of protest and not with expectations of victory.
However, he said the situation had changed drastically, with a strong undercurrent within CPI(M) votes favouring him.
"The undercurrent in CPI(M) votes cannot be measured. Now people are giving a response indicating victory with a margin of at least 5,000 votes," he said.
Payyanur is considered a CPI(M) stronghold, and a defeat for Madhusoodanan there would be a major setback for the party.
On political violence in Payyanur, Kunhikrishnan said he had been facing it since filing his nomination.
"The people leading this violence should think about how long they can continue it. It is the police which has to take the initiative to stop this violence as part of maintaining law and order. But the police are not intervening at the required level," he said.
Regarding his political future, Kunhikrishnan said efforts were underway to strengthen Left groups, and discussions were being held across Kerala in that regard.
"After discussing with others, a decision will be taken," he said.
Kunhikrishnan is among six former CPI(M) leaders who either exited the party or were suspended before contesting for the UDF in the April 9 Assembly elections.
Elections to the 140-seat Kerala Assembly were held on April 9, and the counting of votes will be held on May 4.
