Twitter is not a substitute for action, says Tharoor

As the social networking sites war over Uttarakhand tragedy gains momentum, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has said that Twitter is never been a substitute for action.

"I think I was probably the first politician on this country to being on Twitter, and that time I was criticized for being there. But the truth is that Twitter is never been a substitute for action. It is not a substitute for parliament. It is not a substitute for normal level of political engagement," Tharoor said.

He further lashed out at BJP leader Sushma Swaraj for demanding the resignation of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, saying that that this is not a time to point fingers.

"Right now the nation wants that the people who are trapped in Uttarakhand should be rescued," he added.

While the rescue operations in the flood-ravaged state are still underway, following the unprecedented catastrophe due to flash floods and landslides, political leaders trafficked the social networking sites with flaying comments.

Initiated by a tweet from Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, hitting out at senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for not expressing sympathy or visiting disaster hit Uttarakhand.

Responding on the remark earlier made by Tewari, Swaraj had said that her party leaders feel for the people in flood affected areas and it was the reason that they had kept away from visiting those areas as it would have hampered the rescue operations.

Supporting the statement, BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the Congress leaders are contradicting their statement as earlier the BJP leaders who had visited or surveyed the hill state were criticised by them.

"When BJP leader Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi had visited the flood affected area, the Congress, under their political strategies were criticising their visit. After that their VIP Rahul Gandhi went there and was busy getting photographs clicked, and now they are making list and commenting on who all from the opposition should have visited the flood hit area and who should not. Earlier they were emphasizing that no one should visit the deluged region," said Naqvi.