Divided over hashtag, Twitteratti vent out on Odisha CM

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Apr 2, 2016 at 4:20 PM Updated On : Apr 2, 2016 at 4:21 PM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Apr 2:

“What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet”.

NROs celebrate Raja festival in Netherlands

When Shakespeare penned down these prophetic lines for his magnum opus Romeo & Juliet, little would he have imagined that this clichéd phrase would metamorphose itself with time and be just as contextual as it was centuries ago.

As Odisha celebrated its 80th Foundation Day yesterday, Odia twitter users attempted to make #UtkalaDibasa the top trend nationwide. Flurry of tweets containing factoids and archived images started doing rounds on Twitter timeline.

Much to the delight, #UtkalaDibasa became the third trending topic on twitter in the early hours of April 1.

However, a raw nerve was hit when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tweeted his customary greetings with hashtag #OdishaDivas from his personal handle @Naveen_Odisha. There on, much to the chagrin of passionate Odia Tweeple, official handle of the Office of the Chief Minister @CMO_Odisha too tweeted with the #OdishaDivas hashtag.

By the end of the day, battle lines were clearly drawn with some of the tweeples accusing the Chief Minister of deliberately hurting their sentiments using an anglicized hashtag.

@Naveen_Odisha ଜନ୍ମରୁ ଆଜି ଯାଏଁ ମୁଁ କେବଳ #ଉତ୍କଳଦିବସ ପାଳି ଆସିଛି, “ଓଡ଼ିଶା (not ଓଡିଶା) ଦିବସ” କଣ ମୁଁ ଜାଣି ବି ନାହିଁ। ଖରାପ ଲାଗୁଛି ବହୁତ।

— Know Odisha (@know_Odisha) April 1, 2016

ଜାତୀୟ ସଂଗୀତରେ ଉତ୍କଳ – ଦ୍ରାବିଡ଼ ଉତ୍କଳ ବଂଗ,
ରାଜ୍ୟ ସଂଗୀତରେ ଉତ୍କଳ – ବନ୍ଦେ ଉତ୍କଳ ଜନନୀ,
ଉତ୍କଳ ଦିବସ ଜାଗାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ କାହିଁକି !! #UtkalaDibasa

— ନିଧି ଅଜା (@nidhi_budha) April 1, 2016

@Naveen_Odisha nkara emiti #OdishaDivas ra byabahara bisayare tanku abagata karaibaku padiba. @Kanak_news @odishasuntimes @tanaya_p

— ଗପୁ (@ssgapu22) April 1, 2016

Chattishgarh CM wishes us on #UtkalaDibasa but our foreign educated CM changed the name to #OdishaDivas pic.twitter.com/Sl051NZiUI

— BJP Odisha (@BJPOdisha) March 31, 2016

Anyways, it appears not only on the streets, but on Twitter too, our Chief Minister is facing some resistance! What’s in a hashtag?