Biggest moments on Twitter: Here's a look back at 2019’s most popular tweets in India

• Conversations reflect diversity as #cwc19 and #chandrayaan2 make it to the most talked-about hashtags for the year.
• PM Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) celebrating his party’s victory in #loksabhaelections2019 emerges as the Golden Tweet in India.

Chennai: Twitter is unique as a global public conversation platform that shows people what’s happening right now and lets them talk about it with anyone around the world. 

From breaking news and entertainment to sports, politics, and everyday interests, Twitter is where people come to see what’s happening and join in conversations on trending topics. 

Multiply that by hundreds of millions of people globally and what you get is an amazing, diverse public view of the world - from funny personal moments to serious global events, from sensible tips to zany reactions, from pop culture to mass movements, and everything in between.

That’s why Twitter’s end-of-year reflection is fascinating. It’s interesting to see what Indians collectively talked about - from breaking news, entertainment and sports to politics, social causes and so much more. 

Right from the #loksabhaelections2019 to #chandrayaan2 and #cwc19, this year, Twitter in India was abuzz with conversation and participation.

One of the most exciting and momentous events for India this year was ISRO’s #chandrayaan2 mission. 

The event represented a technological leap and highlighted India’s contribution to space exploration, as the world took to Twitter to respond to every development. 

Not before long, #chandrayaan2 had developed into a phenomenon of sorts, and NASA as well as people on Twitter applauded ISRO’s work with this iconic tweet. 

As 2019 draws to a close, here are some of the most interesting and talked about topics that emerged on Twitter. 

#ThisHappened: Golden Tweet of 2019 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s (@narendramodi) Tweet celebrating BJP’s re-election victory in #loksabhaelections2019 was the most retweeted and liked tweet of the year, making it the Golden tweet in India. 

Here is the most Retweeted Tweet in Sports in India 

In sports, Vikat Kohli (@imVkohli) wished MS Dhoni (@msdhoni) on his birthday, which became the most Retweeted Tweet in the world of sports.

This heartfelt Tweet by Kohli on Mahi’s birthday with a picture of the duo together made for an epic moment for Indian cricket fans. 

Here is the Most Retweeted Tweet in Entertainment in India 

The Tamil entertainment industry continued to rule hearts as well as the Twitter charts.

Vijay’s (@actorvijay) Tweet sharing the poster of his film #bigil became the Tweet to receive the most Retweets in the entertainment sector, as well as became the Tweet to achieve the most Retweets with comments overall, indicating South-entertainment fans’ active engagement on the platform to discuss their favourite movies and stars.

#ThisHappened: Top 10 most Tweeted about Hashtags in 2019 in India 

Hashtags are what tie ideas together around a topic of conversation. They take conversations across timelines, increase engagement and discoverability of a topic. In 2019, these were the most Tweeted about Hashtags. 

*Methodology: Ranked by number of unique authors discussing on Twitter from Jan 1 to Nov 15, 2019. 

#loksabhaelections2019: The world’s largest democracy voted to determine its political future this year, and Indians took to Twitter to exchange their thoughts, resulting in #loksabhaelections2019 at the top of the list of most Tweeted about Hashtags. 

#chandrayaan2: ISRO’s ground-breaking mission to land the world’s first robotic rover on the moon’s south pole was followed closely, not only by millions of Indians but people all across the world. A Tweet from NASA (@NASA) commending ISRO became one of the top ten most Retweeted Tweets this year by Indians on the service.

#cwc19: Cricket fans had a busy summer of cricket in 2019 with the Cricket World Cup. Despite India losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals, Indian cricket fans owned Twitter, Tweeting about winning moments, shocking upsets, classic catches, and who can forget all those memes, making #cwc19 the third most Tweeted about hashtag this year. 

#pulwama: The news of the death of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in an attack on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Pulwama district, resulted in Indians taking to Twitter to Tweet their reactions.

#article370: In August 2019, the Minister of Home Affairs revoked Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir, raising opposition and support on Twitter. 

#bigil: Like every year, the Tamil and Telugu entertainment industries dominated entertainment conversations on Twitter. Fans of superstar Vijay (@actorvijay) used the service to discuss and celebrate every update about the much-awaited Diwali blocker buster #bigil. 

#diwali: Like every year, this year the festival of lights sparked joy as the five days of celebration lit up people’s timelines. People came to Twitter to talk about their celebrations, wish loved ones and Tweet about how and why Deepavali was special to them. 

#avengersendgame: Like much of the world, Indians took to Twitter to discuss fan-theories and what to expect in the anticipated finale of the franchise, making #avengersendgame one of the most Tweeted about hashtags this year. 

#ayodhyaverdict: The Ayodhya dispute has been a political, historical, and socio-religious milestone in India. As the final judgement in the Ayodhya dispute was declared by the Supreme Court of India, people Tweeted their reactions.

#eidmubarak: Audiences on Twitter celebrate every festival with equal cheer and joy. The tenth most Tweeted about hashtag this year was the festival of Eid, as people Tweeted and wished each other prosperity and goodwill. 

#ThisHappened: Top Most Mentioned Accounts 

The following Twitter accounts were the most mentioned on Twitter in the year 2019, across topics like entertainment, politics and sports. 

*Methodology: Most mentioned accounts are ranked by number of unique authors discussing on Twitter from Jan 1 to Nov 15, 2019. 

1) ENTERTAINMENT

The Top 10 Most Mentioned Handles in Entertainment - Male

Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan)
Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar)
Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan)
Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) 
Vijay (@actorvijay)
AR Rahman (@arrahman)
Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial)
Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) 
Mahesh Babu (@urstrulyMahesh)
Atlee (@Atlee_dir)

The Top 10 Most Mentioned Handles in Entertainment - Female 

Sonakshi Sinha (@sonakshisinha)
Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma)
Lata Mangeshkar (@mangeshkarlata)
Archana Kalpathi (@archanakalpathi)
Priyanka Chopra Jonas (@priyankachopra)
Alia Bhatt (@aliaa08)
Kajal Aggarwal (@MsKajalAggarwal)
Sunny Leone (@SunnyLeone)
Madhuri Dixit Nene (@MadhuriDixit)
Rakul Singh (@Rakulpreet) 

2) SPORTS

Top 10 Most Mentioned Handles in Sports - Male 

Virat Kohli (@imVkohli)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni)
Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45)
Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)
Harbhajan Singh (@harbhajan_singh)
Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12)
Hardik Pandya (@hardikpandya7)
Ravindrasinh Jadeja (@imjadeja)
Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93)

Top 10 Most Mentioned Handles in Sports - Female 

PV Sindhu (@Pvsindhu1)
Hima Das (@HimaDas8)
Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania)
Saina Nehwal (@NSaina)
Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03)
Mary Kom (@MangteC)
Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti)
Dutee Chand (@DuteeChand)
Manasi Joshi (@joshimanasi11)
Rani Rampal (@imranirampal)

3) POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Top 10 Most Mentioned Handles in politics - Male 

Narendra Modi (@narendramodi)
Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi)
Amit Shah (@AmitShah)
Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal)
Yogi Adityanath (@myyogiadityanath)
Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal)
Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh)
Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh)
Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir)
Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) 

Top 10 Most Mentioned Handles in politics – Female

Smriti Irani (@smritiirani)
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi)
Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj)
Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman)
Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial)
Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19)
Alka Lamba (@LambaAlka)
Mayawati (@Mayawati)
Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti)
Atishi (@AtishiAAP)
 
And finally, Twitter is nothing if not fun - and what says fun more than expressing oneself through emojis? Below is the list of Most Tweeted emojis on Twitter in India this year.

*Methodology: Emojis are ranked by total Tweet volume from Jan 1 to Nov 15, 2019. 

Join the #ThisHappened conversation on Twitter to see the custom emoji appear near the Tweet.