Rahul’s tweet dogs Assam health minister, Rijiju adds to riposte
GUWAHATI: A ‘tweet treat’ by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s pet dog Pidi, took the micro-blogging site by storm.
Gandhi took to Twitter on Sunday to introduce Pidi as the driving force behind the sudden surge in his popularity on the site. It was an apparent tonguein-cheek attempt at countering critics who sought to know who was handling @OfficeOfRG, his official twitter account.
His video tweet showing Pidi eating a biscuit placed on his nose read: “Ppl been asking who tweets for this guy..I'm coming clean..it's me..Pidi..I'm way (emoji) than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat!”
Some saw the funny side of this tweet.
But Assam health and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma chose to remind Gandhi why he left the Congress to join the BJP. Sarma had fallen out with former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi and quit the Congress in July 2014. He joined the BJP a year later and helped the party form its first government in Assam with two regional parties.
The minister was quick to reply to Gandhi’s tweet. He wrote: “Sir @OfficeOfRG, who knows him better than me. Still remember you busy feeding biscuits 2 him while we wanted to discuss urgent Assam's issues.”
Sarma had a few weeks ago related this incident during an interview, saying he had felt humiliated when Gandhi made it “clear the pet was more important
to him”. Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju rubbed it in further. He replied to Sarma saying: “Many Congress(I) leaders also have similar stories but @himantabiswa ji had the spunk to point out & walk out”.
Rijiju, considered the face of BJP in the Northeast during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government, had joined the Congress in August 2009 but donned saffron again ahead of the 2014 LS polls.