Vikrant Shekhawat : Feb 15, 2021, 08:14 PM
Mumbai: In a fresh development in the controversy with respect to tweets by celebrities like Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar in response to Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, the Maharashtra Home Minister has said that they have completed a preliminary inquiry into the matter. "As per our preliminary inquiry we have found out names of BJP IT cell chief and 12 influencers and we are investigating the case."The home minister also said that his words had been misinterpreted earlier, "Lata Mangeshkar is like God to us, Sachin is held in high regard by the whole country, the inquiry was never against them, it was against the BJP IT cell."After Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant met the home minister demanding an inquiry citing some celebrities tagging BJP leaders in their tweets which he claimed to be identical, the home minister ordered an inquiry into this. The Maharashtra government says that they will investigate whether there was any script handed out to the celebrities by any of these influencers to the celebrities.Reacting to the development BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya said, "The home minister needs to occupy himself with better things. I do not understand what their objection to the tweets is, the celebs only asked outsiders not to speak in our affairs."The controversy had begun with pop star Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg among others tweeting in support of ongoing farmer protests in Delhi. The tweets had led to widespread consternation in the power corridors and saw Indian celebrities respond with tweets asking for an amicable solution to the protests.Activists had criticised the celebrities for what they called their pro-government stance and the celebrities both Indian and foreign had faced online trolling for their stance. A 'toolkit' tweeted by Greta Thunberg and later deleted led to an FIR and subsequent arrest of Bengaluru based activist Disha Ravi in the matter.