On April 3, both sides of the ideological isle trended two hashtags pertaining to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh [RSS], an Indian right-wing organisation, that appeared more than 14,200 times on Twitter.
In the morning, while "#आरएसएस_देश_की_शान" (#RSS_Desh_Ki_Shaan) was trended by its supporters,"#Lashkar_e_RSS" was being trended by its opponents.
Collectively, both these hashtags make up 14,271 tweets, but 14,214 of these tweet appeared on April 3 morning itself, with nearly 80% of them appearing between 8 am to 10 am the same day.
Both trends focus on the various narratives built around the RSS, which is the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP].
#Lashkar_e_RSS
This hashtag has a total of 8,166 tweets which dates back to January 2019. Interestingly, there is only one tweet each under this hashtag in 2020 on January 23, and October 7 respectively. There were four tweets on October 4. The remaining 8,159 have been trending this morning.
Here's how they were tweeted starting 7 am.
This tweet was the early bird among the two, occupying most tweets in the early two hours of the day.
This tweet was first shared in 2021 appeared this morning sharp at 7 am, by a handle called "@krazy_koalaa", terming the RSS as "Reliance Seva Sangh" and stating that it is today's hashtag, and asking users to tweet the hashtag
This hashtag saw a lot of copy-paste activity as well, especially by users who are showing support towards the ongoing farmer agitation.
Also Read: Hashtag Tracker: #FekuDivas & #SuvenduAdhikari Trend On April 1
#आरएसएस_देश_की_शान
Since this hashtag first appeared on April 25, 2020, it has appeared sporadically. This hashtag was used in 19 tweets on May 3 last year.
However, the lion's share of this hashtag too has appeared today. While this hashtag has been used in 6,105 tweets, 6,055 have appeared today.
Unlike "#Lashkar-e-RSS", which started being tweeted out earlier in the day, this trend started quite late. Only 30 tweets went from 7 am - 8 am.
The first tweet was started by the verified handle of actor and former FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan of Mahabharat fame at 7:57 am. It has been retweeted more than 1,300 times and liked more than 5,400 times.
This hashtag has also been en masse to amplify its reach through repeat and copy pasting.