On May 16, it was Twitter that conveyed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one year in office the loudest. Modi, or lets say his officials, were at the vanguard of this Twitter wave as it welled from post to post.
From posting what the Wall Street Journal called the most powerful selfie in history — of himself with Premier Li Keqiang, on his three-day visit to China, Modi let no one forget that May 16 was a day of reckoning when his party was voted to power.
For a Prime Minister who set a blistering pace on Twitter, posting minutes of his engagement with leaders — big and small — with tweets and selfies and speeches and video clips, leaving little option for his Cabinet ministers but to follow suit, both as Chief Minister and later as Prime Minister, it was only to be expected that he would post his one year in office with a series of tweets. And it helped that the amplification could be carried on two Twitter handles. One, at @PMOIndia and the other, @narendramodi — the two easily distinguishable.
May 16, this day last year, "great memories", tweeted @narendramodi, lest his twitter followers forgot the mandate that took even his party by surprise. Almost on cue, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandi Ben Patel who is part of Modi's delegation, gushed: A year since the historic day of May 16, 2014 when India won! Congrats to @narendramodi@BJP4india&ppl of India on this momentous occasion."
Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani, simply retweeted. As did the Press Information Bureau, which retweeted @PMOIndia tweet: Once again on 16th May I want to say- I will leave no stone unturned in my efforts to fulfilling aspirations of the people: PM @narendramodi.
As the day progressed, the Opposition reminded Mr. Modi of how they assessed the year-old government. Digvijaya Singh on his twitter handle, Digvijaya_28, tweeted: "One Year of Modi becoming PM. Price hike of Petrol Diesel. Modi's gift to us. Thank you Modi ji. 8th hike of Petroleum Products in one year." Mr. Singh also retweeted an image on a map of India: "This is the map of India that China’s CCTV showed to its viewers while #ModiinChina. No Kashmir, No Arunachal."
"BJP-Pls protest again! Love you Twitter!" tweeted @ajaymaken.
