The BJP’s toll free number to show support for the Citizenship Amendment Act appears to have been unlucky from the start.
It began with the party being trolled on social media after people noticed that the toll free number was being circulated through a variety of messages that had nothing to do with the CAA. The theme of the promotional messages ranged from Netflix subscriptions, invitations from ‘lonely girls’, dating, support for Virat Kohli, sex chats, piles treatment and even hair transplant services.
The misleading messages went so viral that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to issue a statement saying that the toll free number released by BJP was for the CAA and had nothing to do with “a channel called Netflix”. He didn’t clarify on the other promotional messages though.
Despite the commotion, Shah said that the campaign was a success. On Monday, 6 January, he said, “52,72,000 missed calls have been received on a special number in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act from verifiable phone numbers. Total 68 lakh calls have been received”.