Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah trade barbs on Twitter using emojis; followers praise duo for 'cool banter'

A war of words on social media between political rivals is not an unusual occurrence. However, when former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah used emojis to take digs at each other, their followers were left impressed. It began on Tuesday when Abdullah accused Mufti of promising both the Congress and the BJP that People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will support their respective candidates in the election for the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman. Mufti lashed out at him, saying the National Conference leader was fabricating stories “based on pure fiction”.

Usually fake news & falsehoods are peddled by dubious news channels. But its baffling when a politician like @OmarAbdullah fabricates stories based on pure fiction. Such dangerous propaganda is detrimental to the truth & an attempt to mislead people.https://t.co/39wAb1rzIS

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 7, 2018

Mehbooba, who had to resign in June after BJP pulled out of the alliance government, also responded with a Pinocchio emoji to depict a lying face.

🤥

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 7, 2018

Using a smile emoji, Abdullah lauded Mufti’s social media team for the sense of humour. This prompted Mufti to again hit out at him.

Again fake news ! 🤦🏻‍♀️. Give a compliment where its due Omar .

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 7, 2018

Replying to Mehbooba’s claim about fake news, he added, “Fake news you would have ignored as I always do with your pronouncements. What I said has clearly pinched somewhere!” The Twitterati praised the humour quotient of the entire exchange.

ha ha :-) cool banter. The way it ought to be

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) August 7, 2018

And the Best emoji use award goes to @MehboobaMufti ! 😂

— Zafar Abbas (@zafarabbaszaidi) August 7, 2018

I think that's the first time an Indian politician has made me laugh. 😂😂

— Namecannotbeblank (@Aftrunner) August 7, 2018

2 Former cm fight each other with emoji 😁 twitter is great..😁

— Mani Malik (@MalikMunawwar) August 7, 2018

Would love to see both of u discussing issues and achievements like this.

— Wahid Iqbal (@TheWahidIqbal) August 7, 2018

Responding to a tweet about Mufti indirectly calling him a liar, Abdullah said that the use of the Pinnochio emoji was “a huge improvement” from what she has called him in the past.

She’s called me much worse in the past so 🤥 is a huge improvement 🙂

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) August 7, 2018