Two days after alleging that the IT cell of the BJP had "gone rogue", Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has now set a 'deadline' for the party brass to fire the outfit's chief.
By tomorrow If Malaviya is not removed from BJP IT cell (which is my five villages compromise proposal to Nadda) it means the party brass does not want to defend me. Since there is no forum in the party where I can ask for cadre opinion, hence I will have to defend myself.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) September 9, 2020
Swamy posted a cryptic tweet on Wednesday, which hinted that not acting on his demands would mean the BJP brass did not "want to defend" him. Swamy also claimed he had sent a “compromise formula” to BJP chief J.P. Nadda. He wrote, "By tomorrow If Malaviya is not removed from BJP IT cell (which is my five villages compromise proposal to Nadda) it means the party brass does not want to defend me. Since there is no forum in the party where I can ask for cadre opinion, hence I will have to defend myself."
On Monday, Swamy had alleged that "some" members of the BJP IT cell had made fake Twitter IDs to launch personal attacks on him. Swamy had then tweeted, "The BJP IT cell has gone rogue. Some of its members are putting out fake ID tweets to make personal attacks on me. If my angered followers make counter personal attacks I cannot be held resonsible just as BJP cannot be held respinsible for the rogue IT cell of the party".
Swamy also appeared to single out Amit Malviya, who is in charge of the BJP's national information and technology wing. Malviya is credited with boosting the BJP's already dominant social media narrative and is also a notable commentator on TV news debates. Swamy had accused "one Malaviya" of "running riot with filth". Critics of the BJP's IT cell have alleged in the past that it has encouraged character assassination and trolling to discredit rivals.
Swamy had tweeted on Monday, "I am ignoring but BJP must sack them. One Malaviya character is running riot with filth. We are a party of maryada purushottam not of Ravan or Dushasan".
Swamy merged his Janata Party with the BJP in 2013, but he has maintained his record of being outspoken. Swamy has been critical of the Narendra Modi government's handling of the economy in recent years and even complained the prime minister had not listened to him despite his academic credentials. Swamy had also been an outspoken critic of late finance minister Arun Jaitley. In recent weeks, Swamy had warned the Modi government to postpone the JEE and NEET or risk facing electoral blowback.
While not a Lok Sabha member, Swamy remains one of the BJP's most popular leaders on social media. He commands a Twitter following of 9.9 million.
