Zing! Tharoor takes Modi down on Twitter

Newly sworn in Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor delivered the king of comebacks to Narendra Modi’s  ‘50 crore girlfriend’ comment, on his personal Twitter timeline.

Known for his wit and eloquence, Tharoor did not disappoint with his tweet which has been reproduced below:

https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/263195231736975360

The fitting ‘I am taking the higher ground’ sort of reply to the anything but subtle comment made by the Gujarat Chief Minister, is the latest salvo in a cyber battle of sorts between the two. The online back and forth is believed to have started when Tharoor commented that although Modi had a million followers on Twitter, not all of them were his supporters.

Tharoor’s latest tweet has taken the Indian twittersphere by storm. This is not unexpected, given that Modi’s comment also created waves, with many taking him to task for being crude and getting too personal.

As Firstpost editor Lakshmi Chaudhry noted , “The joke is unnecessary and repugnant. It may make his most rabid fans happy, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of just about everyone else. Making unsavoury innuendos about someone’s wife makes Modi look rude and crude — and certainly not prime minister material.”

Also noteworthy is the fact that Tharoor has responded to Modi, despite the Congress strategy of so far not engaging with him directly.

Last month Congress President Sonia Gandhi declined to respond to a number of allegations that Modi had directly made at her, questioning the cost of her trips abroad on the national treasury.

This time however, it has become that much more personal and it will be interesting to see if Modi will rise to the bait. Is this the beginning of the Twitter wars in India’s political cyber-landscape?