It is quite normal to see rival politicians target each other on social media. Many of them resort to the intelligent use of phrases with hashtags to drive home their point and make an idea popular.

On Saturday, a hashtag ‘I Hate Modi’ began trending on Twitter. Many users, who dislike the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), took to the micro-blogging platform to criticise the Prime Minister and his policies.

It was expected that the main opposition Congress would latch on to the bandwagon and use it to attack the BJP as the heat of the Karnataka assembly elections intensified.

But some top Congress leaders surprised many by denouncing the hashtag itself.

Congress’ national spokesperson Sanjay Jha, who is otherwise a bitter critic of the BJP, underlined that the parties and their respective leaders are political competitors and not enemies.

“#IHateModi ; no, not at all. This is not personal. I fight daily against his communal ideology, I shall relentlessly oppose his divisive politics, brazen lies, and fascist propensities. But no hate, never. That’s #BJP’s prerogative. We are political competitors. Not enemies,” he wrote.

#IHateModi ; no, not at all. This is not personal. I fight daily against his communal ideology, I shall relentlessly oppose his divisive politics, brazen lies, and fascist propensities. But no hate, never. That’s #BJP’s prerogative. We are political competitors. Not enemies.

— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) May 5, 2018

Congress member Salman Anees Soz said that even though he dislikes the ideology of RSS-BJP and many of PM Modi’s policies, he doesn’t hate him.

“I disagree with hashtags such as #IHateModi. I have a deep dislike for the ideology and many policies that PM @narendramodi, RSS & BJP stand for. But I cannot hate him. Not even close. Don’t be a hater,” wrote Soz.

I disagree with hashtags such as #IHateModi. I have a deep dislike for the ideology and many policies that PM @narendramodi, RSS & BJP stand for. But I cannot hate him. Not even close. Don’t be a hater.

— Salman Anees Soz (@SalmanSoz) May 5, 2018

The comments and the hashtag emerged as PM Modi attacked the Congress for not taking care of farmers in poll-bound Karnataka.

It is noteworthy that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had during a rally in Karnataka said that he will never make a personal attack on Modi because the latter is the Prime Minister of India.

“He can say anything against me. I don’t care. He is the Prime Minister of India. I will never make any personal attack on him because I am a citizen of India,” Gandhi said in Bidar on 3 May.

Read More: Will never make personal attack on Modi because he is India’s PM: Rahul Gandhi

Hashtags are very popular on social media. They help underline the crux of the message and also ensure that the message goes viral as more and more people start using the same in their messages. A hashtag helps in collecting all the messages around the central theme in a single thread.