Maharashtra govt to probe if celebs were 'under pressure' to support Centre on farmers' protest

Congress had sought a probe into whether the celebrities were under BJP pressure

73-Akshay-Kumar Akshay Kumar

The Maharashtra government said on Monday that it will probe the tweets by celebrities after pop star Rihanna expressed support for farmers' protests recently. "It has been revealed that there were same posts by celebrities and at the same time. Hence it will be investigated why it has happened," Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Desmukh said.

Maharashtra Congress had sought a probe into whether the celebrities were under BJP pressure to post responses on social media in support of the Centre, NDTV reported. Congress leader Sachin Sawant said a similar pattern can be seen between the tweets made by these celebrities.

Many Bollywood celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar, Lata Mangeshkar and sports personalities like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli had posted tweets asking people not to fall for 'propaganda'. The tweets from celebrities came after a statement from MEA which called the criticism of India's farm laws by foreign personalities "unfortunate". The tweets were posted with hashtags #IndiaAgainstPropaganda and #IndiaTogether, both used in an official government statement.

Rihanna's tweet brought global attention onto the ongoing farmer protests, and many international personalities like teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, actress Susan Sarandona and former adult film star Mia Khalifa expressing solidarity with farmers.