Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh came out in support of his cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj on Monday, saying trolling her on Twitter was "wrong". Asked if he advised action against those who were targeting the minister, he remained silent. Mr Singh is the only minister to show support to Ms Swaraj, who has been backed up on this issue by opposition leader Mamata Banerjee and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Ms Swaraj has been facing the brunt of a vicious attack on Twitter after her ministry gave clearance for the passport of an inter-faith couple and took action against an official who allegedly harassed them.
Asked to comment on the issue on Monday, Mr Singh said, "In my opinion, it is wrong". Asked if he spoke to her to extend support, the minister said, "I speak to her daily". He added that he would not "want to be seen standing alone on this issue... so do not want to comment further".
"Starting from PM Modi to down below everyone is with her, but do not want to get into this controversy," a senior minister said.
The Congress was quick to respond to her statement, saying, "No matter what the situation or reason, nothing calls for threats of violence, disrespect and abuse. Sushma Swaraj ji, we applaud your decision to call out the heinous trolls of your own party."
Earlier, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted:
PDP's Mehbooba Mufti has also strongly condemned the comments against Ms Swaraj.
The home ministry has a separate wing which looks into issues relating to cybercrime and online content appearing on social media. An official, however, said the wing looks after "policy matters and does not deal with individual cases. That's the prerogative of state governments".
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