Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s recent visit to grain markets in Punjab on train has triggered a war of words on Twitter between the party’s state leaders and BJP in Chandigarh.
BJP leader and Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij had taken to the microblogging site on April 29 to say that Mr. Rahul on a train looked like “a child had run away from his home".
“After looking at the pictures of Rahul Gandhi sitting in a train like a terrified and scared child, which appeared in newspapers, it appears like a child had run away from his home,” he said in a tweet.
Taking strong note of Mr. Vij’s comment, senior Congress leader Ajay Singh Yadav retorted, “Vij before using unkind words about Rahul Gandhi should realise that he looks like a beggar who needs few coins and immediate bath.”
Anil Vij before using unkind words about Rahul Gandhi Should realise that he looks like a beggar who needs few coins and immediate bath.
— Capt Ajay Singh (@captajayprmhry) >May 2, 2015
Mr. Yadav, a six-time-MLA from Ahirwal region of Haryana had lost at the last hustings, while Mr. Vij romped home victorious for the fifth term from his Ambala cantonment constituency.
In an attempt to reach out to grief stricken farmers, Mr. Rahul had taken a train to Punjab and visited grain markets in Sirhind, Gobindgarh and Khanna. He also toured Vidarbha region of Maharashtra which has seen a number of farmer suicides.