Arun Yadav deletes over 60,000 tweets after IT cell appointment; Old posts reveal history of abuse & communal hate

Soon after his appointment as the BJP’s national social media co-convenor, Arun Yadav made his X account private and then deleted more than 60,000 posts before making it public again. When the account was locked, it showed around 65,500 posts. By August 22, only 2,794 remained — a deletion exercise that wiped out virtually his entire publicly visible posting history.

At present, the oldest post that can be traced on Yadav’s timeline dates to August 19, 2026. All posts preceding it have been deleted. Many of those posts included abusive and racist remarks, attacks on women’s character, and content directly targeting Muslims in communally provocative terms.

On August 17, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced a new social media cell where Deepak Mhaskey replaced Amit Malviya a the party’s IT cell chief. One of the newly inducted members of the social media cell was Yadav, who had previously been removed from his position as head of the Haryana BJP IT Cell.

When attention turned to Yadav’s old social media record following his new appointment, he locked his X account, @BeingArun28. Yadav has now made his account public again, but not before deleting the posts on a massive scale. The sequence of events indicates that making the account private might have given him the opportunity to remove his old controversial posts and wipe his social media record clean.

A review of Arun Yadav’s social media activity over the past several years reveals a clear pattern: abusive and racist remarks against opposition leaders, attacks on women’s character, and several explicit instances of directly targeting Muslim minorities and making communally provocative statements.

The Post that Led to his Ouster in 2022

Arun Yadav’s history of controversial remarks goes back several years. In 2017, he shared an image of the Kaaba in Mecca alongside a glass of whisky and wrote in an objectionable post that he could see “the Prophet in a peg of alcohol”. Questions continued to be raised over the remark for years. Finally, amid mounting pressure, Haryana BJP removed Arun Yadav from his post as state IT Cell chief on July 8, 2022.

The timing of the action taken against him was particularly significant. It came just a month after then BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s derogatory remarks about prophet Muhammad of Islam had sparked a massive controversy in India and abroad. During a television debate, the BJP spokesperson had made offensive remarks about the prophet, triggering an international backlash.

Amid intense international pressure, the BJP had termed its spokesperson a “fringe element” and expelled her from the party. The following month, a screenshot of Arun Yadav’s old objectionable post went viral on social media. In this sensitive environment, Yadav’s removal was, in a sense, a tacit acknowledgement that his post had crossed a line the party was not prepared to publicly defend at the time.

The significant new responsibility handed to Arun Yadav within the party sends a serious political message: the conduct for which his own party had once sacked him has not stood in the way of his appointment to a higher position with greater responsibility.

“The Digging will Continue until God leaves India, Keep Digging”

In May 2022, Arun Yadav made another objectionable remark about Islam, writing: “The digging will continue until God leaves India, keep digging.”

The post was made at a time when the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute was before the Supreme Court. The Hindu side had claimed that a “Shivling” was present within the mosque complex. Given the sensitivity of the case, the Supreme Court transferred the suit filed by the Hindu side from the trial court to a more senior and experienced district judge.

In this tense legal and social environment, Yadav’s statement was not merely an inflammatory post or an insult directed at a particular religion. It also sought to frame the “digging” of sites containing mosques across the country as a coordinated campaign.

Attack on Rahul Gandhi

Political opponents have also been among Arun Yadav’s targets. In a post from January 2023, he shared a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech and used the phrase “the harvest of the brown aunty” for him.

The remark was not merely a deeply insulting personal attack but also reflected a clearly racist mindset. It was a direct reference to Rahul Gandhi’s mother, Sonia Gandhi, and her Italian origins. However, this is not an exception among BJP leaders. They have often been seen using such derogatory language targeting Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins in the name of political opposition.

“…They Aren’t as Afraid Even when Their Wives Undergo Halala with other Men”

In a May 2022 post, Arun Yadav targeted Muslim women who were opposing surveys and excavations of mosques, making an obscene remark about them. Referring to the sensitive subject of “halala”, Yadav wrote: “As afraid as they are of the excavation of mosques, their wives aren’t even when they undergo halala with other men.”

In India, “halala” has long been the subject of an intense public debate. In Yadav’s post, the term was not merely used as part of a comment, but as a weapon to demean Muslim women.

More Islamophobia

In May 2022, Arun Yadav made another highly provocative post directly targeting Islam and the Muslim community. He wrote: “What kind of an ignorant community must those be whose Allah lives in temples stolen and looted from others?”

This was not simply a comment on the temple-mosque dispute. It was a direct attack on the Muslim community as a whole, using the dispute as a pretext. Yadav’s post was widely circulated.

“Who Got a Nine-month Recharge for Rs 500?”

One of the most shameful instances of Arun Yadav’s repeated targeting of Muslim women and making demeaning remarks about them emerged in May 2020. The case involved Jamia Millia Islamia student and activist Safoora Zargar.

Safoora was pregnant at the time and was imprisoned under the UAPA in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case. While the detention of a pregnant woman was drawing criticism in India and abroad, Arun Yadav mocked Safoora’s pregnancy by comparing it to a mobile recharge plan.

Making a direct insinuation about her character, Yadav posted: “Who got a nine-month recharge for Rs 500?”

The matter did not end with the derogatory post. Yadav also actively endorsed other obscene and abusive comments posted under it. Arun Yadav was not the only BJP leader to make such remarks about Safoora’s pregnancy; several BJP leaders had also made demeaning comments about it.

The BJP’s IT Cell has long faced criticism over the spread of misinformation, targeting of minorities, promotion of regressive attitudes, circulation of controversial content and trolling. Its significance goes beyond the party’s own messaging: As one of the country’s most powerful political social media operations, it plays a significant role in shaping the information ecosystem — what millions of users see, discuss and believe online. Against that backdrop, Arun Yadav’s elevation is striking. A party that once disciplined him over communal posts has now entrusted him with a larger role in its national social media machinery. What was once grounds for his sacking has, years later, not come in the way of promotion.