The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the controversy around Prime Minister Narendra Modi following a few users on Twitter who had expressed happiness over journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder was “mischievous and contorted”.

“He is a rare leader who truly believes in freedom of speech and has never blocked or unfollowed anyone on Twitter,” said the BJP’s Information and Technology chief Amit Malviya said. He added that Modi follows normal people and interacts with them on various issues.

On Wednesday, Twitter users had condemned Modi for following accounts that expressed happiness over Lankesh’s murder in her Bengaluru home on Tuesday. On Thursday, #BlockNarendraModi was one of the top trends on Twitter in India.

While some users made jokes using the hash tag, others expressed their anger at Modi. Some users also disagreed with the idea of blocking the prime minister on Twitter.

The saffron party’s statement took a jibe at political rivals Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal while defending the prime minister. “The PM following someone is not a character certificate of a person,” it read. “The PM also follows [Congress Vice President] Rahul Gandhi, who is accused of loot and fraud. The prime minister also follows Arvind Kejriwal, who abused him on Twitter.”

Malviya further pointed out that the prime minister still follows Parthesh Patel, a former BJP volunteer who joined the Congress and “abused the prime minister in the worst possible way”. The BJP described the controversy as “farcical and fake” and an exhibit of selective right to expression.

On Thursday, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had criticised those who celebrated the killing. “Expressing happiness on the killing of anyone is shameful, regrettable and totally against Indian traditions,” Prasad had tweeted. “Social media is not for that.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress held each other responsible for the murder.