“I thank @narendramodi for his initiative to honour and empower women this Diwali. Acknowledgement motivates us to work harder and make India proud. #bharatkilaxmi.” From Mary Kom to Pooja Dhanda, from P.V. Sindhu to Saina Nehwal, India’s top sportswomen were assigned to tweet the above text this Diwali eve. The result is multiple sportswomen tweeting identical text from their official twitter handles, lauding PM Narendra Modi’s efforts on women empowerment. I thank @narendramodi sir for his initiative to honour and empower women this Diwali. Acknowledgement motivates us to work harder and make India proud. #bharatkilaxmi. https://t.co/JBhr5ATL3y — Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) October 26, 2019 Twitter users were treated to identical tweets with the hashtag #BharatkiLaxmi. Like PV Sindhu, most sportswomen either quote tweeted or tagged Kiren Rijiju, the Minister of State (independent charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports. Much to everybody’s amusement, some of them missed removing the word “Text:” from the message provided to them to tweet. Pooja Dhanda deleted her tweet after many users pointed this out. The coordinated campaign for #BharatkiLaxmi was kicked-off a few days ago with a video featuring P.V Sindhu and Deepika Padukone. The video was shared by PV Sindhu saying, “I support PM @narendramodi ji #BharatKiLaxmi movement.” This was retweeted PM Modi. India’s Nari Shakti epitomises talent and tenacity, determination and dedication. Our ethos has always taught us to strive for women empowerment. Through this video, @Pvsindhu1 and @deepikapadukone excellently convey the message of celebrating #BharatKiLaxmi. https://t.co/vE8sHplYI3 — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 22, 2019 What followed four days later was a full-fledged campaign with identical tweets from leading sportswomen and tweets on the hashtag by several Union ministers and party supporters. This #Diwali, let all celebrate womanhood. Societies grow when women are empowered. PM Sh @narendramodi has appealed everyone to celebrate #BharatKiLaxmi for the extraordinary success of the women of India. pic.twitter.com/N4DQ4tjtzb — Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) October 26, 2019 The “news” of leading sportswomen lauding ‘PM Modi’s efforts to empower women’ is now shared by media outlets. #ManikaBatra #MaryKom #NarendraModi #BharatKiLaxmi@manikabatra_TT, @MangteC laud PM @narendramodi's effort to empower women READ➡️https://t.co/PVWmGgvyzE pic.twitter.com/3AcnUbippE — TOI Sports (@toisports) October 26, 2019 This entire episode of headline management is embarrassing to say the least and to pull in national sportspersons in political propaganda of this nature is condemnable. Follow @free_thinker Inter-faith relationships between Hindu women and Muslim men have been a sore point for the… Right after Elon Musk took over the reins of microblogging site Twitter, the organization carried… A six-second-long clip of a civilian slapping French President Emmanuel Macron while he is interacting… Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was allegedly shot at during a rally in Wazirabad… In a now-deleted article titled “दीप प्रज्ज्वलन के वैज्ञानिक और आध्यात्मिक पक्ष, जानें ये है…