Rahul taunts Modi on Trump's U-turn on Pakistan
Congress VP Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to slam PM Narendra Modi as US President Donald Trump did an about turn with respect to Pakistan. Using a screenshot of Trump's tweet, Rahul said "Modi ji quick; looks like President Trump needs another hug." Recently, Rahul's "revamped" Twitter handle has been credited for being snappy and crisp. Why did Rahul tweet this though? Read on!
What prompted Rahul's tweet?
When Modi visited the US in June'17, Trump termed India a "true friend", blasted Pakistan for being a 'safe haven for terrorist organizations' and urged them to bring the 26/11 perpetrators to justice. Modi government heralded this as a "new phase in Indo-US relationship." But, on Saturday, Trump tweeted that US had begun a better relationship with Pakistan, thanking them for their cooperation.
What was the context for Trump's tweet?
Trump's latest tweet came after a Canadian-American couple Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman and their three children were rescued by Pakistani forces after being held captive by the Haqqani network for five years.
Meanwhile, Rahul and BJP had earlier locked horns on Twitter
On October 13, regarding the Global Hunger index report, Rahul had tweeted, 'if you are hungry, be patient, what if bread is not available, the issue is being discussed in Delhi'. Subsequently, Information & Broadcasting and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani tweeted, 'hey, hunger for power, be patient, what if you don't have the numbers, you can collect selfish people, noise can be made to malign the country'.
However, Rahul's tweets also received praise
Acknowledging Rahul's tweet and his more attacking than defensive stance, former J&K CM Omar Abdullah tweeted "There is certainly a new edginess to tweets from this handle. The gloves are off." These lyrical, cool but biting tweets that have characterized Rahul's Twitter handle, ever since former actor Divya Spandana took charge, might be signaling Congress' changing strategy.
