Hours after the BJP introduced its new nationwide social media crew, the X profiles of a number of of the office-bearers grew to become unavailable. This got here at a time when some X customers started circulating screenshots of their older posts that had turn into controversial.
The BJP on Monday (August 17, 2026) appointed Deepak Mhaske as its nationwide social media convener, ending Amit Malviya’s 11-year tenure. The celebration additionally appointed Priti Gandhi, Shivanand Dwivedi, Alok Bhatt and Arun Yadav as co-conveners.
The reshuffle follows a interval of youth-led protests, notably the one in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar led by the Cockroach Janta Get together, which gained vital traction on social media.
Deepak Mhaske
On Mr. Mhaske’s X deal with, @deepakmhaskey, which was created in 2009, a number of previous posts are not seen.
An educational from Chhattisgarh, Mr. Mhaske has labored with the BJP’s IT and social media equipment for 15 years. Whereas he largely remained out of the limelight, he was concerned within the celebration’s social media administration throughout elections in Bihar and West Bengal, each of which have been received by the BJP.
After his appointment on Saturday, he stated the BJP’s social media crew would work to counter what it considers propaganda and tackle misconceptions concerning the celebration and the federal government.
The posts not seen on his X profile included a video from July 2024 that raised questions on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s faith. A number of of his previous posts focused the Congress and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
At current, posts from earlier than Monday are usually not seen on his X timeline, however replies to posts are nonetheless out there to view.
The Hindu tried to achieve out to Mr. Mhaske for his touch upon the matter, however didn’t obtain a response.
Priti Gandhi
Ms. Gandhi, who was beforehand related to the ladies’s wing of the BJP, has often posted on X through her deal with @MRSGandhi. Nevertheless, presently, her X profile will not be publicly accessible.
In November 2025, her submit on Indian cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues had created an issue. Ms. Gandhi criticised Rodrigues over her choice to convey her faith into the dialogue round her illustration of India, triggering a debate over faith and sporting identification.
Alt Information co-founder and fact-checker Mohammed Zubair shared a screenshot of one other purported X submit through which Ms. Gandhi purportedly claims to be a “enormous fan of Nathuram Godse”, Mahatma Gandhi’s murderer. In a submit, which can be presently not out there, she stated that she was ashamed of her surname. “I ought to have been a Godse,” she wrote.
Alok Bhatt
Mr. Bhatt’s X profile can be presently not publicly out there.
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover shared a screenshot of a controversial submit allegedly made by Mr. Bhatt that appeared to focus on a Congress chief. Referring to the submit, Ms. Grover wrote, “The youth are talking to you in your favoured language. Bhatt has been rewarded by the PM and the BJP for such vile innuendoes.”
In one other now-unavailable submit, Mr. Bhatt purportedly criticised the reservation system. “Reservation is the 2nd greatest most cancers afflicting India after Jihadism- every thing else flows from that!” he had written within the submit. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has, nevertheless, spoken in help of reservation on a number of events.
Arun Yadav
Mr. Yadav, whose X account can be not presently publicly out there, had been on the centre of an issue in 2022 when his posts from 2017 that referenced Islamic beliefs resurfaced on-line. Subsequently, the BJP had eliminated him from his place because the chief answerable for the celebration’s Haryana IT cell, although it didn’t publicly give any motive for his removing.
Shivanand Dwivedi
Shivanand Dwivedi has had a decrease public profile than the opposite members of the BJP’s new social media crew. His social media posts haven’t led to any main controversy and there are not any studies of his posts changing into lately unavailable.
Printed – August 18, 2026 10:11 pm IST
