Rahul calls PM 'Big Boss' who spies, Irani says even 'Chhota Bheem' would know better

The war of words between the Congress and the BJP on data sharing spiralled today with Rahul Gandhi dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians" and Union minister Smriti Irani saying even 'Chhota Bheem' knows it is not snooping.

Twitter was the battleground as the debate on the prickly issue escalated and the ruling BJP accused the opposition Congress of data "theft", saying it had taken off its app after the allegations came out in the open.

The Congress, however, claimed it had not done so. The site was "dysfunctional" and all memberships were done through the party's official website, it said.

Taking to Twitter after allegations surfaced that data from the prime minister's official app was being shared without the consent of users, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the prime minister was misusing his position and the NaMo app secretly recorded audio, video and contacts.

"Modi's NaMo App secretly records audio, video, contacts of your friends and family and even tracks your location via GPS. He's the Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians.

"Now he wants data on our children. 13 lakh NCC cadets are being forced to download the APP," Gandhi said on Twitter using the hashtag "DeleteNaMoApp".

He added that Modi was misusing his position to build a personal database with data on millions of Indians via the NaMo App promoted by the government.

"If as PM he wants to use tech to communicate with India, no problem. But use the official PMO APP for it. This data belongs to India, not Modi," Gandhi said.

Irani hit back with a series of derisive tweets, saying that Gandhi now knows what the NCC thanks to the NaMo app.

"RahulGandhi ji, even Chhota Bheem' knows that commonly asked permission on Apps don't tantamount to snooping," she said, recalling the character from the animated series for children.

"Ye kya RahulGandhi ji it seems your team is doing the opposite of what you asked for. Instead of #DeleteNaMoApp, they have deleted the Congress App itself."