WhatsApp blocks TDP MP's account

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP C.M. Ramesh's WhatsApp account was blocked on Saturday by the messaging application platform. Ramesh, a member of the Rajya Sabha, said when he enquired with WhatsApp, he received a mail saying his account was blocked for violation of terms of service.

"We have reason to believe your account activity has violated our Terms of Service and decided to keep your account banned. We received a large number of complaints about your account and in order to protect users' privacy, we won't disclose the nature of the complaints," read the mail the MP received from the WhatsApp support team. The TDP leader said though he introduced himself as an MP and requested WhatsApp to reactivate his account, there was no response.

Ramesh alleged that the central government could be behind this due to political vendetta. He plans to raise the issue in Parliament and is also exploring legal options. In October, income tax raids were conducted on Ramesh and the company promoted by him. He had blamed the BJP-led government at the Centre for the raids.