Netizens Accuse BJP of Trying to Gain Support for CAA Using “Lonely Hearts”

Guwahati, January 5, 2020

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now taken the path of “lonely hearts” to gain support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or the CAA, alleges netizens.

The netizens have also termed the ruling party as “desperate” in a bid to garner the support amid the mass resistance against the controversial CAA.

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A series of tweets have emerged on social media after the BJP arranged for a missed call campaign. The campaign, which had urged people to give missed calls and show their support for the CAA on a toll free number (8866288662), has now taken the route of the infamous “lonely hearts” method to attract people.

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Several accounts on Twitter have shared the said phone number pretending to be lonely and bored women who were seeking “friendship”. The level of desperation, according to netizens, was so high that the official Twitter handle of Netflix had to issue a clarification that giving a missed call in the said number will not offer free subscription for six months.

It may be mentioned here that one Muralikrishna had posted, “Want free Netflix subscription for 6 months? Call 8866288662 and get Username and Password. Promotional offer, valid only for first 1000 callers. Try your luck.” Netflix responded to this with, “This is absolutely fake. If you want free Netflix please use someone else's account like the rest of us.”

The netizens called it “desperate times call for desperate measures…#CAA.” The toll free number was shared by many Twitter accounts with posts reading, “Call me… 8866288662. I’m free right now, waiting ur call.” “Too bored today so ready to share my number with all my followers. Call me…”

The BJP has been trying to quell the widespread protests against the CAA in the country with peace rallies and other campaigns to generate awareness about the new legislation. However, protesters have been quashing the efforts with peaceful cultural protests in parts of the country.

It may be mentioned here that the campaign of missed call has been called a ploy to lure support through fake accounts on social media.

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