This self-goal by the Congress can have far-reaching ramifications in the poll season.
There was a storm in the teacup for the Congress when its youth wing tweeted a 'chai' meme targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
Yuva Desh, the Twitter handle later deleted the tweet, but not before it sparked huge outrage in political circles.
'Damage is done,' said BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi. “Now Yuva Desh deleting the tweet means nothing, damage is done, be it intentional or unintentional. This also clearly shows the feudal mindset of Congress,” Trivedi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed the Opposition party for its 'thinking towards the poor'.
Sambit Patra, another senior BJP leader, said that the 'chai' meme tweet would have similar impact on Gujarat Elections.
It should be noted that it was in 2014, when senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyyar had made remarks about PM Modi's humble origin. At a major Congress event, Aiyyar had said that, “Narendra Modi will never become the Prime Minister of the country... But if he wants to distribute tea here, we will find a place for him.”
The Congress, however, distanced itself from the tweet by its youth wing. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “INC (Congress) strongly disapproves & rejects such humour through memes. Differences on policy and opinion aside, Congress culture imbibes respect for PM and all political opponents.”
Suraj Hegde, the Youth Congress in-charge, tried to put blame on 'volunteers'. “We condemn this and are apologetic. We are trying to find out who did that tweet as mainly volunteers run that page,” Hegde told ANI. This is however, not the first time they tweeted such thing. Their Twitter timeline is full of similar tweets.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also took to Twitter and expressed his anguish. "This blatantly classist and anti-poor Tweet by the Youth Congress shows their mindset towards India’s poor. Does Crown Prince @OfficeOfRG support this?," he tweeted
Omar Abdullah, the National Conference leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, termed the chai meme as 'political suicide.'
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