BOOM

Trending Searches

    SUPPORT
    BOOM

    Trending News

      • Fact Check 
        • Fast Check
        • Politics
        • Business
        • Entertainment
        • Social
        • Sports
        • World
      • Law
      • Explainers
      • News 
        • All News
      • Decode 
        • Impact
        • Scamcheck
        • Life
        • Voices
      • Media Buddhi 
        • Digital Buddhi
        • Senior Citizens
        • Videos
      • Web Stories
      • BOOM Research
      • BOOM Labs
      • Deepfake Tracker
      • Videos 
        • Facts Neeti
      • Home-icon
        Home
      • About Us-icon
        About Us
      • Authors-icon
        Authors
      • Team-icon
        Team
      • Careers-icon
        Careers
      • Internship-icon
        Internship
      • Contact Us-icon
        Contact Us
      • Methodology-icon
        Methodology
      • Correction Policy-icon
        Correction Policy
      • Non-Partnership Policy-icon
        Non-Partnership Policy
      • Cookie Policy-icon
        Cookie Policy
      • Grievance Redressal-icon
        Grievance Redressal
      • Republishing Guidelines-icon
        Republishing Guidelines
      • Fact Check-icon
        Fact Check
        Fast Check
        Politics
        Business
        Entertainment
        Social
        Sports
        World
      • Law-icon
        Law
      • Explainers-icon
        Explainers
      • News-icon
        News
        All News
      • Decode-icon
        Decode
        Impact
        Scamcheck
        Life
        Voices
      • Media Buddhi-icon
        Media Buddhi
        Digital Buddhi
        Senior Citizens
        Videos
      • Web Stories-icon
        Web Stories
      • BOOM Research-icon
        BOOM Research
      • BOOM Labs-icon
        BOOM Labs
      • Deepfake Tracker-icon
        Deepfake Tracker
      • Videos-icon
        Videos
        Facts Neeti
      Trending Tags
      TRENDING
      • #Operation Sindoor
      • #Pahalgam Terror Attack
      • #Narendra Modi
      • #Rahul Gandhi
      • #Waqf Amendment Bill
      • #Arvind Kejriwal
      • #Deepfake
      • #Artificial Intelligence
      • Home
      • Politics
      • @HinduSannyasin: The Mischievous...
      Politics

      @HinduSannyasin: The Mischievous Twitter Imposter Of Sadhvi Pragya

      A parody handle of Sadhvi Pragya is gaining popularity and followers, and Twitter users - including a popular influencer and a prominent news organisation - are falling for an imposter.

      By - Archis Chowdhury |
      Published -  22 April 2019 4:22 PM IST
    • Boomlive
      Image shows parody handle of Sadhvi Pragya

      A parody account made in the name of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, the controversial BJP candidate from Bhopal, has quietly gained a lot of followers masquerading as the Sadhvi's personal handle.

      It's popularity shot up immediately after the party announced its decision to field her against Congress candidate and former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh.

      On April 17, 2019, Twitter user Shefali Vaidya (@ShefVaidya) - followed by more than 3 lakh followers, including PM Modi - tweeted out in support of Sadhvi's candidacy.

      https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1118526059069075456
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.

      In her tweet, she urged people to follow Thakur on Twitter and tagged a handle going by the name of Pragya Singh Thakur - Sadhvi (@HinduSannyasin). There was no mention of whether it was Thakur's personal Twitter handle or a parody account made in her name.

      After reviewing the Twitter handle on April 17, BOOM found out that it explicitly mentioned in the bio that it is a parody account.

      Image shows Twitter profile of Sadhvi Pragya
      Screenshot of the account @HinduSannyasin as taken on April 19,2019, 04:52 pm. Click here for archived version.

      That did not stop Vaidya from retweeting posts made by @HinduSannyasin, as the parody handle continued to gain followers.

      https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1118760368820461573
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.
      https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1118542169164267525
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.
      https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1118535531824947200
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.
      https://twitter.com/ShefVaidya/status/1118526170964717570
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.

      In all the above tweets, Vaidya very explicitly uses the parody handle @HinduSannyasin to refer to Thakur, without disclosing or showing signs of acknowledgement of the fact that it is a parody account, as it was mentioned in the profile.

      Ashoke Pandit, another popular influencer on Twitter - also followed by PM Modi along with more than 1 lakh other followers - took Vaidya's lead and tagged the @HinduSannyasin handle in a tweet about Thakur's recent controversial comment on the death of ATS chief late Hemant Karkare.

      https://twitter.com/ashokepandit/status/1119177257283510272

      BOOM reached out to Thakur's aide Sanjay Kumar, who confirmed that Thakur has no such handle and that her personal Twitter account is yet to be created.

      "It is a fake account, like many others going around. She (Thakur) does not have her own account yet, as we're yet to set it up," said Kumar.

      Mainstream media falls for it

      The comedy of errors grew way past the mistakes of individual Twitter users, when a mainstream media publication became the latest victim of this social media imposter.

      Prominent business publication Financial Express published an article on the Sadhvi's candidacy for the seat of Bhopal, and embedded a tweet by @HinduSannyasin to refer to Thakur.

      Image shows screenshot of FE article
      Screenshot of Financial Express article running a tweet by @HinduSannyasin.

      Mission: Impersonate

      In the absence of a verified Twitter handle of the controversial Hindutva figure, the parody account rose to the occasion and filled in the space, often tweeting on behalf of the Sadhvi in first person, giving the impression of being her personal Twitter handle and asking people to follow her.

      https://twitter.com/HinduSannyasin/status/1119305361364643840
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.
      https://twitter.com/HinduSannyasin/status/1119315263810232320
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.
      https://twitter.com/HinduSannyasin/status/1118802654170234880
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.

      Between April 17, 2019 and April 22, 2019, the handle's followers grew from 27,000 to 31,500, and continues to attract new followers at the time of writing this story.

      When you're on a roll

      Inspired by the growing popularity of the @HinduSannyasin on Twitter, the user behind this handle decided to open up an Instagram account and a Facebook page and a Facebook public group.

      Image shows Instagram account HinduSannyasin
      Screenshot of Instagram account HinduSannyasin.
      Image shows screenshot of the Sadhvi's parody page on Facebook
      Screenshot of the parody Facebook page.

      Parody Disclaimer: Now you see it, now you don't

      Riding the wave of ignorance of the people in verifying whether the handle actually belongs to Thakur, the parody handle suddenly made a brazen attempt to further mislead people.

      In the late hours of April 19, 2019, BOOM noticed that the Twitter handle @HinduSannyasin had removed the disclaimer in its Twitter bio which revealed that it is a parody handle.

      Image shows Twitter profile of parody account of Sadhvi Pragya without parody disclaimer
      Screenshot of the account @HinduSannyasin as taken on April 19,2019, 11:40 pm. Click here for archived version.

      Using a tool called TweetBeaver, BOOM downloaded over 450 tweets by the parody handle, posted between April 11 and April 20, 2019, and found that most of the tweets were about Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress, while others were related to the ongoing general elections and Hindu religion.

      The most frequently used word was actually the name of the Twitter handle 'HinduSannyasin'.

      The following word cloud was generated using the tweets that were downloaded:

      Image shows word cloud generated using 439 tweets downloaded from the parody handle @HinduSannyasin
      World cloud generated using the content from 439 tweets downloaded from the parody handle @HinduSannyasin.

      Since April 17, 2019, @HinduSannyasin has been tweeting at least once every 15 minutes on average, and the frequency is growing exponentially.

      After an entire day of masquerading as the real Twitter handle of the Sadhvi, the user behind this parody account seemed to have a change of heart and decided put the disclaimer back on.

      Image shows Twitter bio of @HinduSannyasin
      Screenshot of Twitter account @HinduSannyasin taken on April 20, 10:53 pm. Click here for an archived version of the profile.

      However, this did not stop the user from continuing to impersonate the Sadhvi on Twitter.....

      https://twitter.com/HinduSannyasin/status/1119651680717377536
      Click here for an archived version of the Tweet.

      ....while numerous users seemingly kept falling for it.

      Image shows replies to tweets by the parody handle @HinduSannyasin
      Screenshot of replies to tweets by parody handle @HinduSannyasin.

      Speaking to BOOM, Sadhvi Pragya's spokesperson has shared that they are in the process of creating her social media accounts. Sadhvi's constituency Bhopal will go to polls on May 12 in Phase 6 of the Lok Sabha polls.

      Tags

      fake accountfeaturedgeneral elections 2019HinduSannyasinMalegaon blastsparody accountparody twitter accountsSadhvi Pragya SinghBJP
      Read Full Article
      Next Story
      Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
      Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker. Please reload after ad blocker is disabled.
      X

      Subscribe to BOOM Newsletters

      👉 No spam, no paywall — but verified insights.

      Please enter a Email Address
      Subscribe for free!

      Stay Ahead of Misinformation!

      Please enter a Email Address
      Subscribe Now🛡️ 100% Privacy Protected | No Spam, Just Facts
      By subscribing, you agree with the Terms & conditions and Privacy Policy connected to the offer

      Thank you for subscribing!

      You’re now part of the BOOM community.

      Or, Subscribe to receive latest news via email
      Subscribed Successfully...
      Copy HTMLHTML is copied!
      There's no data to copy!