Congress' online magazine tweets derogatory meme attacking PM Modi, deletes later

In the run up to the Gujarat Assembly polls, the political slugfest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached a new low when 'Yuva Desh', the 'Indian Youth Congress' online magazine, tweeted a derogatory meme attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday.

The online magazine tweeted a picture of Prime Minister Modi in conversation with United States President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

PM Modi can be seen asking them if they were aware about the various 'memes' that have been circulated on the social media by the Opposition against him.

Hours after the tweet was put out, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani took notice and asked if Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi would approve of such a jibe at the country's head.

"This blatantly classist and anti-poor Tweet by the Youth Congress shows their mindset towards India's poor. Does Crown Prince @OfficeOfRG support this?" tweeted Rupani.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also reacted to the tweet.

"What is about elements of the Congress party that commit political suicide with such amazing regularity? This tweet is in such poor taste," he posted.

Yuva Desh's original tweet, however, now stands deleted.

This is not the first time the Congress has taken reference to the prime minister's beginning as a tea vendor.

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had, in January 2014, before the Modi-wave took the nation by surprise, said "Modi would never become prime minister, but he was welcome to serve tea to Congressmen."

Latching on to the barb, PM Modi attacked the Congress for not being able to "tolerate a person from backward caste who had humble beginnings".

Rahul Gandhi had then disapproved of the jibe at PM Modi being a subaltern.

The BJP had then turned Aiyar's attack into a campaign asset - "chai pe charcha" - rankling the Congress.