Meet Modi fans, who spend hours defending the PM on social media

I am on my sonrsquos Facebook page but we donrsquot interact muchrdquo says Jayesh Kataria 50 taking a seat at a Girgaon Chowpatty cafeacute A walk from his south Mumbai office where he works as sales manager the cafeacute is our meeting point during his lunch hour ldquoMost of their feedsrdquo laughs the father referring to the timeline posts on his sonrsquos social media page are lsquotaken single taken singlersquordquoAlso readManish Baradias camera rolls 247 x 365 for PM Narendra ModiPicGetty ImagesKataria an alumnus of Dhobi Talaorsquos St Xavierrsquos High School ldquoclass of 1980rdquo he stresses is also active on another social media platform Twitter Here he describes himself as a ldquohopeless romanticrdquo Itrsquos not an identity that a senior Delhibased journalist who is often the object of Katariarsquos ire will reconcile withJayesh Kataria Sales manager from South Mumbai Tweetsjayeshdeewana12 Rana Ayyub is a vicious witch who does not have respect for Indian Judiciary she also is ignorant that Sadhvi Pragya is not yet trialed July 29 2015 PicTushar Satam He laughs when we mention her name ldquoYes she often gets it from merdquo says Kataria who tweets as jayeshdewana12 He finds her tweets biased against the government especially its leader Narendra Modi On June 29 RanaAyyub tweeted A SelfieWithDaughter which modi sarkaar should be embarassed about Nishrin with her slain father Ahsan Jafri To this rlmjayeshdewana12 responded sunil_kachroo PradnyaLotlikar She gt RanaAyyub is a Sick Jihadi TruthOfGujaratDelhi professional Ratnodeep ldquoRumlurdquo Rudra says fireworks will be routine on social media and admits to often supporting the BJP like lsquoRamborsquoYet Kataria who is happy that we call this city Bombay not Mumbai insists he is not a political person ldquoI am a nationalist I want to see the country develop that there is food on every table If therersquos a party that can work towards benefiting the nation I am with them Itrsquos just that therersquos none other than the Bharatiya Janata Party right nowrdquoSanjeev Nayyar Worli chartered accountant Tweetssanjeev1927 SethShruti yr shouting against pm on selfie uncalled for He is PM for 1 yr did u write to earlier pms July 15 2015 PicSatyajit DesaiBut Kataria is quick to dissociate himself from the Modi Bhakt tag a term now popular for those who troll Internet users voicing an opinion against the PM ldquoMr Modi should also be criticised provided he does wrong I can be critical of people I appreciate itrsquos healthyrdquo he says with a philosophical wave of his hand Would he call himself a troll ldquoIts not a term I agree with If someone spreads mischief or halftruths I counter it After all even my followers should know what I am up tordquoEra of discontentOn July 1 when actor Shruti Seth criticised the PM tweeting ldquoA selfie is not a device to bring about change Mr PM Try reformrdquo she had little idea of the wave of hatred that would pour into her feed Some opponents even got personal ldquoIf ur father was a physical abuserwe feel sorry for uwhy tak it out on PMrdquo tweeted RaGadha ka chacha from the handle rlmsickvijay_singhRajesh Kumar Singh Malad Playwright Tweetsneelnabh ShekharGupta amp u expect not to b abused amp kicked on your backside after a grave provocation like this July 30 2015 PicPradeep DhivarItrsquos a parody account modelled on former Madhya Pradesh CM and Congress politician Digvijay Singh run by Airoli physiotherapist Manoj HegdeldquoCalling the PM a lame duck is uncalled for you are crossing the line Those who tweeted that got what they deservedrdquo says Hegde in a telephonic conversation managing to squeeze 20 minutes for a chat between patient consults He is referring to Kavita Krishnan president of the All India Progressive Womenrsquos Association The Delhibased activist found herself at the receiving end of trolls after a tweet criticising the PMrsquos selfiewithdaughter social media campaignAlok Bhatt a travel adventure entrepreneur feels the need to defend the BJP and if abuse is a part of it he doesnrsquot mindHegde 28 who studied at the Sikkim Manipal University says tags like Modi Bhakt are only for namesake ldquoBut if somebody calls me that Irsquoll be proudrdquoLike many others Hedge who also posts personal tweets under the handle drmanny joined Twitter a couple of years ago when the political atmosphere in India was charged with discontent Unhappy with the ruling Congress he was also disappointed in mainstream pressldquoFor decades the print media has dominated the countryrsquos opinionrdquo says Sanjeev Nayyar a 53yearold chartered accountant when he meets us at a popular coffee chain outlet at Worli ldquoTwitter has lent democracy to political discourserdquo That a certain section of the media will ldquohate the BJP till they go to their graverdquo is reason why misinformation and hatred spread he arguesA CA business consultant and a crosscultural trainer he tutors foreigners coming to India in understanding the working ethos of the country Nayyar who says he may have trolled someone in a weak moment packs in time for a fair bit of travel uploading the pictures he clicks on his website esamskriticom Itrsquos perhaps because he has been behind the camera for long that hersquos uncomfortable when the lens is pointed at him His main concern then is that his moustache looks just rightOn July 31 Rajesh Kumar Singh a 58yearold Maladbased playwright who has written for TV serials like Shanti called an ABP News update showing BJP leader Pankaj Tiwari clicking a selfie with party president Amit Shah at former president APJ Abdul Kalamrsquos funeral a lsquohit jobrsquo Tiwari clarified that the selfie was clicked at Shahrsquos home not at Kalamrsquos resting place RameshwaramOn Twitter says Singh mdash who spends three hours a day tweeting and retweeting at the speed of 20 posts an hour mdash lies stand exposedlsquoItrsquos a debatersquoMost see social media as ground for debate but ldquofireworks will be routinerdquo accepts Ratnodeep lsquoRumlursquo Rudra The Delhibased advertising professional who doesnrsquot shy away from an argument at Chittranjan Parkrsquos beer parties had posted an image of his voteink laced finger on the day of the national elections last year with the word lsquobadlarsquo ldquoFor decades the Congress had us believe their ideology was the best and us gullible Indians foolishly followed themrdquoNow Rudra says he has an option The first light of hope was shown by Anna Hazare inspiring him to join the Aam Aadmi Party He eventually walked out of AAP shifting loyalty to BJPPassionate debate is one thing What when trollers abuse their targets On July 21 when actor Neha Dhupia posted ldquoOne rain n the city comes to a standstill Good governance is not about selfies n makin us do yoga itrsquos making sure ur citizens r saferdquo like Seth she had trolls questioning her intelligence Others wondered if it was a publicity stunt to kickstart a flagging career Singh for instance replied ldquoCity is doing fine Donrsquot crib amp whine Keep peace Do Yoga Dont be a typical Bollywood idiotrdquoWhile most Modi supporters that Sunday midday spoke to insisted they were aggressive not abusive 24yearold Hyderabad resident Gajanand Devda had a confession to make ldquoYou must be brave to speak to merdquo he said when we called him suggestive of the abusive language he uses when trolling A Modi not BJP tweeter he says ldquoSometimes one needs to be abusive when dealing with people who have a hidden agenda Nobody likes to be uncivilisedrdquo In his own personal communication he is courteous apologising for a delayed reply cursing only when stuck in trafficBut how do these trollers know when a Twitterati has stepped out of line Especially when someone doesnrsquot tag or hashtag the PMldquoOne follower somewhere will retweet it and itrsquoll get picked uprdquo says Devda an engineer who now runs a spice distribution businessThe trollers may love the PM but does he love them backOn July 3 the PM hosted 150 of his online supporters at 7 Racecourse Road on the sidelines of the Digital India initiative Modi reports say stressed on ldquopositive language even while facing abuserdquo online OpIndia a news and current affairs website quoted him saying If all the abuses I receive are printed on a paper the entire premises of Taj Mahal will be coveredrdquoThe ones ldquochosenrdquo to attend the meeting bragged about it while those left out sulked and screamed on Twitter and Facebook Such was the deluge of abuse and counterabuse that Giriraj Singh Union minister of state for micro small and medium enterprises eventually had to appeal for calmTrolling the trollCriticism and attacks however work both ways ldquoEven when Seth and Dhupia were attacked a lot of people stood up in support which was good to seerdquo an official from a social media firm requesting anonymity addsAbuse therefore is something that Dehradun resident and chartered accountantturnedtravel adventure entrepreneur Alok Bhatt often receivesldquoI am hated I do not mind I am abused I do not mind Because I hate my rivals too and often abuse themrdquo says BhattTit for tat Modi would approve