Cong demands probe to check if celebs were forced to tweet

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress has demanded a probe by the police into tweets posted by celebrities in response to the global criticism of the government’s handling of the farmers’ protest. The party sought the investigation to find out if the celebrities were pressured by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take to social media in support of the Central government. State Congress’s general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant is set to meet state home minister Anil Deshmukh with the demand for the probe.

Sawant said he would hold a virtual meeting with Deshmukh on Monday, to demand a thorough probe. “There is a similar pattern behind these tweets by the celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Sunil Sheety, sportspersons Sachin Tendulkar and Saina Nehwal. The contents of the tweets by Nehwal and Kumar are the same, while Shetty had tagged a BJP leader. This shows that there was communication between the celebrities and the ruling party leaders. It needs to be investigated if there was any pressure from the BJP on these national heroes for such advocacy on social media. If so, these celebrities need to be given more protection,” he said.

State BJP’S media head Vishwas Pathak said, “These are dignitaries and have their independent views on international affairs. Raising doubts over their expressions and ability to think independently is an insult to them. They have spoken about Indian sovereignty.”