Wednesday 30th Apr, 2025
New Delhi: Congress leader Manish Tewari on Sunday stirred a controversy when he used an abusive word for ‘bhakts’ while responding to a Twitter user.
He was using bhakts to refer to those who support and back PM Narendra Modi.
Tewari tweeted, “This is what it means to make ******** followers and make fools out of bhakts. Even Mahatma Gandhi cannot teach Modi patriotism.”
He was replying to a person called Deepak Kumar Singh who asked Tewari not to teach PM Modi patriotism.
Deepak was reacting to a video that Tewari had shared on his Twitter handle which suggested that the PM had disrespected the national anthem on one of his trips abroad.
Incidentally, the Congress leader posted the offensive tweet just hours after he wished the PM on his birthday.
Reacting to Tewari’s tweet, BJP leader and Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Congress leaders are crossing the line, they must go to a psychiatrist, the government will help them,” as per ANI.
However later, the Congress leader clarified that he had not meant any offence to PM Modi.
Earlier, on September 08, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had also stoked controversy by posting a tweet that had used abusive language against PM Modi, prompting the BJP to demand an apology from his party for the ‘filthy abuse’.
Singh had later disowned it, saying retweets are not endorsements.
“Retweets are never endorsements. This is the basic principle of Twitter. I have said it is not mine. I have disowned it. I have not used those words. My tweet does not endorse this. My words are that he is the best in the ‘art of fooling’. Is it abusive?” he had said.
Digvijaya Singh retweets derogatory remarks on PM Narendra Modi, triggers controversy
“Not mine but couldn’t help posting it. My apologies to the person concerned. He is the best in the “Art of Fooling!”,” Singh had said while posting a picture of PM Modi with the offensive tweet.
Later at the party briefing, Congress media in-charge Randeep Surjewala had said, “Digvijaya Singh has already spoken about it and clarified the issue. I think there is nothing further to add in the matter,” PTI reported.
On the other hand, BJP spokesman GVL Narasimha Rao had lashed out at Singh, saying Opposition leaders like him have “degenerated into abusive trolls” after repeated electoral drubbings.
Singh’s “crass comments demonstrate the degeneration of a party that prides itself on a great legacy. These comments amount to insulting 130 crore people of India whose mandate is vested in the prime minister,” Rao had said.