‘This Sunday, thinking of giving up my social media’ tweets Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday tweeted that he was thinking of giving up his Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts in a week.

He did not elaborate the reason behind doing so, reports NDTV.

Modi is one of the most followed world leaders on social media with 53.3 million followers on Twitter, 44 million on Facebook, 35.2 million on Instagram and 4.5 million on YouTube.

The Indian Prime Minister has not held a single press conference since taking office in 2014 and has prided himself on communicating directly with his supporters via social media.

With a highly active presence online since joining Twitter and Facebook in 2009, he has scooped up thousands of 'likes' and replies within minutes of sharing each post.

However, he has been criticised sometimes for avoiding prickly subjects such as the recent violence in Delhi which drew his first response after three days. His announcement about leaving social media amassed over 30,000 likes, 16,000 replies and 10,000 retweets within about 30 minutes.

Narendra Modi's post drew a deluge of reactions including dismay, bewilderment and an endless stream of sarcastic replies from his detractors. With messages mostly from his supporters, "No sir" became a top trend on Twitter with nearly 23,000 tweets.

One of Modi's supporters wrote" "Why sir? this is the only way to be in touch with you. We know that you are pained with the recent situation but please don't do this. We all know that this phase will go.You are our supporter. We got strength from you. You are our biggest inspiration."