Anil Deshmukh takes U-turn: 'No inquiry of celebrities, probe on BJP IT cell head, 12 influencers'

Mumbai, Feb 15: Days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi faced severe backlash for its decision to probe Tweets posted by Indian celebrities in wake of the global conspiracy to defame India, the Maharashtra government has taken a U-turn. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who had last week ordered the intelligence agency to probe the celebrities’ tweets, has now stated that the state govt is probing the BJP IT cell and not the tweets by the celebrities. He said that 12 influencers are under the radar of the MVA government.

 

 

Addressing his first media briefing after recovering from COVID-19, Deshmukh sought to clarify his earlier statement in this regard saying, “My earlier statement regarding the tweets by celebrities was presented in a distorted manner. I never meant that the inquiry was going to be of celebrities. Lata Mangeshkar is godlike for us. And every countryman respects Sachin Tendulkar. There is no question of their inquiry. What I had meant was that inquiry will be done into the role of the BJP IT cell. And preliminary inquiry has brought to fore the names of BJP IT cell head and twelve influencers and further probe is on in the matter.”

 

Last week, Deshmukh had said that tweets of celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Suniel Shetty, Virat Kohli, Akshay Kumar, and others had clearly stated that they will be investigated in order to examine whether the tweets were made under some pressure by the Modi government or the celebrities genuinely wanted to support the center on the Farm Laws.

 

 

Deshmukh made these remarks on an online platform after the Congress, a ruling coalition partner in Maharashtra sought an investigation into the BJP’s alleged connection with tweets of some celebrities.

 

Following these comments, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government had faced severe backlash. Several fans of Bharat Ratna recipients Sachin Tendulkar and the singing legend Lata Mangeshkar had come out to criticize the MVA government.

 

 

 

Earlier, on February 3, many celebrities came out to take a stand against the global campaign launched against India. Prominent personalities such as Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan, Suniel Shetty, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor, Kailash Kher and several others had extended their support to the Farm Laws and called for unity in the light of comments made by several international figures, including singer Rihanna and activist Greta Thunberg, over the ongoing farmers’ protests.

 

This came after the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement, wherein it said that “vested interest groups” were trying to enforce their agenda on the protests to derail them and said that these groups were trying to mobilise global support against India. The statement also referred to “sensationalist social media hashtags and comments” by “celebrities and others” but didn’t name anyone in particular.