Bhubaneswar, Sept. 9: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik became a Twitterati today when the 68-year-old created his official Twitter account, his first social networking profile.
This has created a buzz in social networking sites with hundreds of tweets welcoming him within a couple of hours after his account became active.
Naveen, whose Twitter handle is @Naveen_Odisha, started off with "Jai Jagannath" as his first tweet that touched many of his followers. There were many fake accounts in his name, but the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) confirmed that Naveen today indeed joined the popular social networking site.
In March 2012, the CMO had clarified that the various profiles on Facebook created in Naveen's name were fake, and he had no account on any networking site.
As such, not many Odia politicians show interest in online presence. Among the handful of politicians who are immensely active on Twitter are BJD members Baijayant Panda, Akash Das Nayak, Ranendra Pratap Swain and former Congress MP Pradeep Majhi. Das Nayak and Swain have already started following the chief minister.
"We welcome the chief minister to the social networking world. It is wonderful to see the delight of his followers that he joined Twitter," said Das Nayak.
Naveen's profile introduces him as the chief minister of Odisha since 2000, president of the Biju Janata Dal. The profile picture shows a latest photograph of the chief minister smiling with folded hands while the display picture, a collage of three images, shows him interacting with tribal and physically challenged people in separate events and serving meals to schoolchildren in another occasion.
By this evening, Naveen already had 325 followers, many of who requested him to remain active on Twitter. "Welcome to Twitter. Better late than never," said a follower, Debaprasad Satapathy.
Another follower wrote: "Welcome. Please stay active on twitter and handle it yourself rather than using a team."
Some even tweeted him in Odia font and then used English alphabet to write their Odia messages mentioning that he might not be able to read their messages.
Interestingly, Naveen's profile is seen following eight profiles, including those of the Prime Minister's Office as well as the Prime Minister's own handle @narendramodi. He also follows the President's handle and those of Google, Twitter, Twitter India, BJD's official handle and that of a leading national news channel.
