TMC MP Derek O'Brien accused Twitter user Rahul Raj of issuing rape and communal threats during his speech in the Parliament. Photo: Twitter accounts of Derek O'Brien and Rahul Raj

While speaking in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing them of "mainstreaming hate" by encouraging certain Twitter users to run hate campaigns on social media networking platforms on their behalf.

O'Brien said, "26 of such users, who issue rape and communal threats on Twitter, are followed by the Prime Minister of India," mentioning the Twitter handle of a user Rahul Raj, @bhak_sala. With reference to journalist Swati Chaturvedi's book "I am a troll", O'Brien said the prime minister even hosts parties at his house for these Twitter users.

Derek o'Brien quoting @bhak_sala and @MahaveerM_ in his speech. Source Binjal book. Even @sureshnakhua Aamir Khan incident has been quoted pic.twitter.com/wwHs3ehnE0 Vikash Kumar Roy (@vikashroy) February 2, 2017

Soon after, Rahul Raj hit back at O'Brien in a series of tweets saying that he was never suspended by Twitter and that he never met PM Modi. In a tweet, Raj said, "After these wild & nasty allegations by @quizderek, I feel threatened as a common man. Parliament should protect common men, not scare them," marking the beginning of a field day for Twitter users.

From DailyO: When Derek O' Brien ripped apart 'photo mantri' Modi and suggested 'DeMitronisation'

O'Brien faced a lot of heat for naming Rahul Raj as a "paid troll".

You can't just stand in Parliament and allege something without providing foolproof evidence; jobs and personal reputations are at stake. Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) February 2, 2017

Can some1 file privilege motion against MP for stating wrong facts in RS @BJP4India & get the records expunged #PlsCheckFactsDerek February 2, 2017

Horrifying that common citizens can be bullied and lied about by parliamentarians. I wonder if @BJP4India has the spine to #IStandWithBhak Nupur (@UnSubtleDesi) February 2, 2017

Mr Minister @AnanthKumar_BJP , your department should summon @bhak_sala to depose in the parliament. Citizen's right to clear his name. https://t.co/cFCduPnJEi | nisheeth sharan | (@nisheethsharan) February 2, 2017

It's a signal to his mob. I demand police protection for @bhak_sala. https://t.co/37AhadbPg3 Rahul Roushan (@rahulroushan) February 2, 2017

In response to O'Brien's allegations, Textile Minister Smriti Irani defended Rahul Raj in the Rajya Sabha and demanded his name be removed from the record.

Rahul shot to fame at a very young age. He was kidnapped at the age 10 while he was living in Patna. But that is not what he got famous for. 10-year-old Rahul managed to escape from the clutches of the kidnappers and this got him the National Bravery award.

What proved to be a turning point in Rahul's life was getting admitted to an Army school in Class six. Four years later, he realised joining the army is not his cup of tea.

Trying to figure out what he really wants to do in life, Rahul pursued engineering at IIT-BHU, still flipping, took a break during his third year. Finally, he found his calling in arts, music and literature.

And this marked the birth of "Bhak Sala" in October 2010. Having no clear plan about turning the social media pages he started with an unparliamentary name into a property, Rahul populated it with the infamous Santa-Banta jokes. At that point, he did not know that his pages will become a platform for political commentary.

Today, the Bhak Sala Facebook page has nearly 6,00,000 followers and on Twitter, Rahul has nearly nine lakh followers.

TAKING A BREAK

Hours ago, Rahul posted quite an emotional write-up saying that he is feeling weak and that he is taking a break from social media after all what happened.

Quoting from the Facebook post he made, "The name itself was a slang used in the Hindi belt, often as reaction when you are irritated with the things going on around you. I was never meant to be politically correct. While bulk of what I wrote was social humour - when you are irritated with same old rattamaar exams, office politics, cricket defeats, show offs, and such things - I also aired my views on politics."

"Today, I got a call from my mother. She does not know much about internet and she had no idea about what I was doing. But after knowing that my name was taken in the parliament and I was branded a criminal by an MP, she was deeply worried. She couldn't sleep yesterday. I told her not to worry and that people were with me. I told her I have been offered free legal help by many. But, I have seen the dirty side of court cases. My father has lost a lot for a case related to our property [sic]."

Here is his full post: