Rahul Gandhi's popularity on Twitter faked? Here's the Russian bot angle

Congress leader's Twitter handle high on news as media cites rise in retweets as proof of his resurgence on social media

Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday targeted Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi after a media report claimed that the recent uptick in his social media traction may well be due to bots. Aiming a barb at Gandhi, she said, "perhaps Rahul is planning to sweep polls in Russia, Indonesia and Kazakhstan".

Rahul Gandhi's twitter handle 'OfficeofRG' has been the topic of various news outlets recently, citing a rise in retweets as evidence of a resurgence of Rahul Gandhi's interaction on social media. 

However, news agency ANI's report claims that Twitter handles retweeting the Congress vice president's tweets could be 'automated bots'.