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For a man whose follower count on the social media site twitter is rushing towards the 2-million mark, Narendra Modi does not follow too many people. So far only 373 people. His following, however, shows the amount of interest in the man tipped to be the next prime minister. But, the people he follows could give a peep into what interests Modi.
While a majority of this group comprises BJP functionaries from around the country and within Gujarat, there are some high profile names too, especially among the business community.
The Gujarat chief minister is one of the 11.95 million followers of the world’s richest man Bill Gates. He also follows the twitter account of the Gates foundation. While Modi himself does not figure in the list of 156 people followed by Gates, they both follow one Indian icon: Amitabh Bachhan. While Modi does not follow any of the Bollywood Khans, he seems to prefer the Hindu Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar instead.
But music seems to have no such religious boundaries. Therefore, he has no qualms in following AR Rahman, the Chennai born genius. Another Muslim on the list is former president APJ Abdul Kalam.
Veteran singer Lata Mangeskar and cricket god Sachin Tendulkar from neighbouring Maharashtra are among the favourites.
Among the Indian business leaders Modi follows are Ratan Tata, who famously shifted his Nano plant from the eastern end of the country to Sanand in Gujarat, and his auto rival Anand Mahindra. Former Banking professional who joined politics Meera Sanyal also is followed by Modi.
Modi also follows the US-India business council (USIBC), the business advocacy organization which aims to deepen trade and strengthen commercial ties between India and the US.
Among the foreign countries, the United States, Britain and Japan seem to be on the radar. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron and Premier Shinzo Abe and leader of Tibetans in exile Dalai Lama are the world leaders Modi followed on twitter. The PM’s office of Japan, which has English updates as against Japanese ones in Abe’s personal account, also figures in the Modi account. He also followed the United Nations to keep abreast of international issues.
Our own prime minister’s twitter account did not probably evince interest. But, those of some foreign politicians and diplomats did. Hugo Swire, the minister of state for foreign office in the United Kingdom was on the following list. So, was British high commissioner to India James Bevan.
The Economist, the British newspaper that advocates economic liberalism, is on Modi’s list. So are some local newspapers and channels.
Some journalists and commentators such as Swapan Das Gupta, Bibek Debroy, Sucheta Dalal and Prabhu Chawla have also evinced Modi’s interest in social media.
Modi does not seem to be interested in twitter accounts of many rival party politicians. Only non-BJP politician on the list is Subramanian Swamy.
A bureaucrat, who the Gujarat CM is watching keenly, is Amitabh Kant, chief executive of Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, which passes through Gujarat. Modi is also keen on knowing what his fans are tracking so he follows accounts such as @namofanbvn and some which said , “my idol narendramodi follows me.”
