Qaiser Ali, 19, grabbed @PMOIndia briefly, then apologised for it.
A teenager, Qaiser Ali, was "Prime Minister of India" for half an hour, at least on Twitter, as the teams of Manmohan Singh and his successor, Narendra Modi, squabbled over the PM's official twitter handle.
"Apology for taking the name of @PMOIndia . I did it because it was vacant. Apologies," Qaiser, 19, tweeted as his sensational "coup" set social media on fire.
The teenager from Lucknow reportedly grabbed the twitter handle inadvertently, finding it available.
The @PMOIndia account was reset and turned into @PMOIndiaArchive on Tuesday, days before Mr Modi, one of India's most twitter-savvy politicians, is to take charge as the next Prime Minister.
Mr Modi's BJP called it "ungraceful, unethical and illegal", asserting that the PM's official account is a national digital asset and should have been handed over. It complained that some 1.4 million followers had been lost in the resetting.
In the short time that it took to rename the PM's official account and create a new one, Qaiser tried registering @PMOIndia, found it free, and took it.
His ownership of @PMOIndia ended when his Twitter handle reverted to its previous name within half an hour.
In a statement yesterday, Manmohan Singh's office said the twitter account @PMOIndia was being handed over to the new Narendra Modi regime "along with its followers."
"The transfer of these digital assets to the incoming PMO administration has been arranged," said the PM's office.
In his twitter profile, Qaiser claims he created a location-based mobile e-commerce service for multiplexes and malls and founded a social network at 18.
His adventure has baffled many on social media.
"PMO handle belongs to the GOI. How can one change it without the permission of the present PM or his office?" asked Lalit Advani. "It is indeed a goofup by PMO," tweeted Kunal Mazumdar.
"Apology for taking the name of @PMOIndia . I did it because it was vacant. Apologies," Qaiser, 19, tweeted as his sensational "coup" set social media on fire.
The teenager from Lucknow reportedly grabbed the twitter handle inadvertently, finding it available.
The @PMOIndia account was reset and turned into @PMOIndiaArchive on Tuesday, days before Mr Modi, one of India's most twitter-savvy politicians, is to take charge as the next Prime Minister.
Mr Modi's BJP called it "ungraceful, unethical and illegal", asserting that the PM's official account is a national digital asset and should have been handed over. It complained that some 1.4 million followers had been lost in the resetting.
In the short time that it took to rename the PM's official account and create a new one, Qaiser tried registering @PMOIndia, found it free, and took it.
His ownership of @PMOIndia ended when his Twitter handle reverted to its previous name within half an hour.
In a statement yesterday, Manmohan Singh's office said the twitter account @PMOIndia was being handed over to the new Narendra Modi regime "along with its followers."
"The transfer of these digital assets to the incoming PMO administration has been arranged," said the PM's office.
In his twitter profile, Qaiser claims he created a location-based mobile e-commerce service for multiplexes and malls and founded a social network at 18.
His adventure has baffled many on social media.
"PMO handle belongs to the GOI. How can one change it without the permission of the present PM or his office?" asked Lalit Advani. "It is indeed a goofup by PMO," tweeted Kunal Mazumdar.
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