Union Minister Sushma Swaraj at the parliament house in Delhi. (Express photo by Prem Nath Pandey/File)
A week after she posted a series of tweets trolling her, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday initiated a poll on Twitter, asking users whether they “approve” of such trolling.
Over a lakh users took part in the poll, with 57 per cent respondents backing her and 43 per cent supporting the trolls.
“In a democracy difference of opinion is but natural. Pls do criticise but not in foul language. Criticism in decent language is always more effective,” Sushma tweeted after the poll.
“Friends : I have liked some tweets. This is happening for the last few days. Do you approve of such tweets? Please RT,” she had tweeted while initiating the poll.
On Sunday, Sushma’s husband Swaraj Kaushal posted an emotional message on Twitter in support of the senior BJP leader. He also posted a screenshot of a tweet accusing his wife of appeasing Muslims.
Addressing the Twitter user who targeted the minister, he said, “Your words have given us unbearable pain. Just to share with you, my mother died of cancer in 1993. Sushma was an MP and a former Education Minister. She lived in the hospital for a year. She refused to engage a medical attendant and attended on my dying mother personally. Such was her devotion to the family. As per my father’s wish, she lit my father’s pyre. We adore her. Please do not use such words for her. We are first generation in law and politics. We pray for nothing more than her life. Pls convey my profound regards to your wife.”
Meanwhile, political leaders cutting across party lines tweeted in the minister’s support.
“Horrified by the vicious trolling @SushmaSwaraj ji has been subjected to. Absolutely outrageous! If our own Minister of External Affairs is not spared, what hope is there for any other woman?,” former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted.
“That 43% of almost 120,000 respondents support the vile tweets that have been used to troll @SushmaSwaraj tells its own story of what a miserable place part of the twitter universe has become. Shame on the trolls & their supporters/apologists,” Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted.
In a democracy difference of opinion is but natural. Pls do criticise but not in foul language. Criticism in decent language is always more effective.
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 1, 2018
Replying to Swaraj Kaushal’s tweet, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “Sir, pl don’t explain to these people. Everyone knows who is controlling them and from where it is coming. Its politics. But sad part is that politics has become sooooo dirty. Our best wishes to ur family.”
The trolling of Sushma came in the backdrop of the MEA’s action against Vikas Mishra, an official accused of humiliating an inter-faith couple in Lucknow who had applied for passports.
Last Wednesday, Mohammed Anas Siddiqui and his wife Tanvi Seth had alleged that Mishra asked Anas to convert to Hinduism and Tanvi to change her name or her passport application would be rejected.
The couple had tweeted to Sushma, seeking her intervention. Subsequently, Mishra was transferred and showcaused. The couple were later issued passports.