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Congress, BJP lock horns over ‘Chai-Wala’ vs ‘Bar-Wala’ tweet

A war of words broke out between the BJP and the Congress after its youth wing took a jibe at…

Congress, BJP lock horns over ‘Chai-Wala’ vs ‘Bar-Wala’ tweet

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress Party president Rahul Gandhi (Photo: Facebook)

A war of words broke out between the BJP and the Congress after its youth wing took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter followed by a counter attack on Rahul Gandhi.

The controversy began on Tuesday as the Congress’ youth wing posted a meme based on a photo of PM Modi, Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

In the blurbs added to the photo, PM Modi mispronounces “meme” and while Trump corrects him, May ridicules Modi and asks him to “stick to selling tea.”

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The offensive meme, which was deleted later, caused a major uproar as BJP leaders slammed the Congress for its “elitist mindset”.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted, “Madam Sonia Gandhi & Mr Rahul Gandhi do u still believe that only u have a divine right to rule India? Country expects ur response on the tweet of the youth Congress, which is shameful & insulting to poor. U can delete the Tweet but ur thinking towards the poor stands exposed.”

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party “strongly disapproves & rejects such humour”. His tweet also said, “Differences on policy and opinion aside, Congress culture imbibes respect for PM and all political opponents.”

With the offensive tweet deleted, tempers were starting to cool down but things took an ugly turn when BJP Rajya Sabha MP Paresh Rawal decided to drag Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi into the controversy.

In a tweet that has now been deleted, Paresh Rawal stated, “Our chai-wala is any day better than your bar-wala,” in a reference to Rahul Gandhi implying that the Gandhi scion was an alcoholic.

This time it was the Congress’ turn to take offence as it lashed out at the BJP and Rawal.

Although, Rawal decided to take down the tweet and even issued an apology, the damage had already been done.

“Deleted the tweet as it’s in bad taste n I apologise for hurting feelings (sic)” he tweeted.

With both the offensive tweets deleted, here’s hoping to a more civilised and political discourse between our leaders.

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