Twitter CEO Elon Musk is now following Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the microblogging platform, as per Elon Alerts (@elon_alerts), a Twitter handle that follows the billionaire entrepreneur’s activity online.
On Monday, @elon_alerts simply tweeted that Musk is now following PM Modi.
Musk, who is the most followed personality on Twitter with over 134 million followers, only follows 194 people, including the likes of former US President Barack Obama (who is the second-most followed account on Twitter with over 132 million followers), mother Maye Musk, controversial podcast host Joe Rogan, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Spotify founder Daniel Ek, “Game of Thrones” author George R R Martin, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and others.
PM Modi's official Twitter account has over 87 million followers and follows 2,535 accounts at the time of writing.
Prime Minister Modi met with Musk back in 2015, when he visited the Tesla factory in San Jose, California, US. Back then India was interested in exploring Tesla’s solar Powerwall battery technology.
The reason behind the world’s second richest person following the Indian prime minister could be anyone’s guess. Musk has been trying to bring his electric vehicle (EV) company, Tesla, into India for quite some time now. However, in May last year, Musk said that the company will not set up a manufacturing plant in the country until it is allowed to sell and service imported cars here. Earlier in the year, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that Musk is welcome to set up an EV factory here, adding that if Tesla wants to build China-manufactured cars in this market, that wouldn’t be a considerable proposition.
The minister had said, "It is a very easy alternative; if Elon Musk is ready to manufacture a Tesla in India, there is no problem. We have got all competencies, the vendors are available. We have got all types of technology and because of that, he can reduce the cost."
Users reacted to the news with understandable surprise. While some tweeted that this will surely lead to a new Tesla factory in the country, others surmised that there’s no real story behind the new follow.
Check out some reactions on Twitter below: