Did Tony Abbott buy Facebook likes? Or is he just really popular in India?

Tony Abbott is riding a wave of popularity.

With 18-34 year olds from New Delhi, that is.

Here’s the run-down:

Tony Abbott was in a selfie with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his tour to Australia.

PM Modi posted the photo on his Facebook and Twitter accounts (he has the social media popularity of a Kardashian).

Tony Abbott’s popularity had a massive spike in countries outside of Australia.

Comedy duo the Bondi Hipsters called Tony out on it with this post:

Tech-savvy Aussies have been wondering if Tony has been buying Facebook likes (that’s actually a thing you can do – usually they are false profiles created by companies who charge a fee such as $50 for 10,000 Likes). More followers started accusing him on social media:

“It is no secret that the Prime Minister hosted a number of world leaders in recent times, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These visits attracted large international audiences to the Prime Minister’s social media channels, thus generating a spike in organic engagement with the page.”

Evidently, they were telling the truth, because the spike in Abbott’s online popularity increased immediately after the picture was released. He’s a popular guy, that Indian Prime Minister.

If anyone wants to get a better social media presence, you know what to do. Don’t buy likes. Befriend Narendra Modi instead.