India BJP: Ruling party's site down after reports of hack

Image copyrightReuter

The official website of India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is down after reports it was hacked.

Party officials are yet to confirm the report, but screenshots of memes apparently spotted on the site are being widely shared on social media.

One of them features a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a caption littered with Hindi swear words.

A message on the website says it is down for maintenance.

Calls to the BJP's IT department for a comment went unanswered.

If confirmed, the incident is likely to be a major embarrassment for the BJP, which is widely seen as the most tech savvy of India's political parties.

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Mr Modi used social media and technology to great effect in his successful general election campaign in 2014.

He continues to be the political leader with the largest number of followers on Facebook.