New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has topped the list of most talked about Indian accounts on micro-blogging site Twitter. According to an update by the India page of the social media platform, PM Modi was followed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the most talked about Indian on Twitter. Two other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including party national president Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath bagged the third and the fourth spots. Interestingly, Delhi CM and Aam Aam Party (AAP) convenor Arvind kejriwal stood as the 5th most talked about celebrity in India. Madhya Pradesh CM and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan bagged the 10th spot in the list.


In other segments, Tamil film #Sarkar, #MeToo, #KarnatakaElection, #KeralaFloods, #Aadhaar, #JusticeForAsifa, #DeepVeer, #IPL2018, #WhistlePodu and #AsianGames2018 emerged as the top 10 influential moments in India on Twitter in 2018. Further releasing the most retweeted post on Twitter, the micro-blogging platform said it was Footballer Sunil Chhetri’s plea for supporting the national football team which stood as the most retweeted post on Twitter in India this year. The post retweeted almost 60,000 times. As per the release, #MeeToo movement was one of the most trending hashtags as it recognised on an international level and also increased awareness towards women’s safety in India.


India's most liked tweet of 2018 was the picture of actress Anushka Sharma along with his husband and Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli on Karvachauth. The picture was liked nearly 2.16 lakh times. Even the trends go ahead to show that floods in Kerala became one of the most talked about issues and brought government, NGOs and people together to help the suffering state. Soon after the Supreme Court of India squashed the constitutional validity of Aadhaar over privacy issues, Twitter erupted with conversations regarding the verdict and the provision of linking Aadhaar with non-essential services.

However, it was not just politics and movements that gained momentum on Twitter in 2018. India celebrated Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s grand marriage as well as major wins at global sporting occasions like #AsianGames as Indian athletes, including Bajrang Punia, Hima Das and PV Sindhu winning the laurels.