Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani sent shockwaves through the diplomatic community over the weekend when she indirectly accused Russian "Twitter trolls" of supporting opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. The government official tweeted an article from ANI Digital which purports that Gandhi's Twitter popularity is partly due to automated bots located in Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Russia, snidely remarking in her post that "Perhaps @OfficeOfRG planning to sweep polls in Russia, Indonesia & Kazakhstan ??" The report in question is nothing more than unfounded speculation, but the strong symbolism behind it in trying to capitalize on the US' anti-Russian hysteria shouldn't be overlooked. Furthermore, the very fact that a high-ranking member of the Indian government, a woman who plays an indispensable role in the projection of the country's soft power within its borders and beyond, would publicly retweet such a ridiculous claim and even add her own snarky commentary to it is very scandalous, to say the least.
