Blue tick on Sukant Mazumdar's Twitter account remains, but Mamta-Abhishek Banerjee and Shubhendu Adhikari lost it

Twitter has caused a stir among its users by removing blue verification badges from the accounts of several high-profile individuals, including politicians and celebrities.

On Thursday, April 20th, Twitter has removed the blue verification badges from the accounts of many high-profile individuals, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress Abhishek Banerjee, Leader of Opposition Shubhendu Adhikari, and BJP National President Dilip Ghosh and other political leaders, celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.

Initially, users speculated that a technical error was responsible for the missing blue ticks. However, it later emerged that Twitter officials had removed the badges due to non-payment. Previously, a blue tick next to a Twitter user's name indicated that their account was verified as authentic.

However, after American entrepreneur Elon Musk acquired the platform, new rules were introduced requiring users to pay INR 9,400 per year to retain the blue tick.

The new rules apply not only to celebrities but also to politicians, ministers, industrialists, and businessmen. Any user who cannot or does not wish to pay the fee will not receive a blue verification badge, regardless of their status or influence. While the blue tick was once a helpful tool for identifying authentic accounts and weeding out fakes, its new status as a paid feature has sparked controversy and debate among Twitter's user base.