Did BJP trolls force Snapdeal to drop Aamir Khan as brand ambassador?

A former volunteer at the BJP social media cell has reportedly claimed that the party's IT cell had instructed its social media team to build pressure on Snapdeal to remove actor Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador.

The Indian Express reported that Sadhavi Khosla, who quit the BJP social media cell as a volunteer at the end of 2015, has revealed this information. She has also shared purported WhatsApp messages sent to her with journalist Swati Chaturvedi whose book I am a Troll is being published, the report said.

The instruction was made following Khan's comments on rising intolerance in November 2015.

Last year, while speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards ceremony, Aamir Khan said: "Kiran (his wife Kiran Rao) and I have lived all our lives in India. For the first time, she said, should we move out of India? That's a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make to me. She fears for her child. She fears about what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers everyday. That does indicate that there is a sense of growing disquiet."

Soon after these comments, the BJP social media cell organised a campaign to get Khan removed as the brand ambassador of Snapdeal, the report said.

She shared messages she claimed were sent to her from Arvind Gupta, head of the BJP IT cell, and other WhatsApp groups associated with the team, the Indian Express reported.

In one of the WhatsApp messages to Khosla, Gupta wrote: "Sign the Petition to Snapdeal India. Appeal Snapdeal to drop Aamir Khan from their ads."  

E-commerce company Snapdeal did not renew Khan's contract as its brand ambassador in 2016.