It seems that abusing PM Modi has become the latest trend in the market. Now that they are unable to corner him on any significant issue, political or otherwise, the opposition has resorted to name calling and abusing the incumbent PM in the worst ways imaginable.
From the likes of Praniti Shinde, who likened PM Modi to a ‘dengue mosquito’, to the megalomaniac MP, Shashi Tharoor, who shockingly insulted the PM by referring to him as ‘a scorpion on the Shivalinga that cannot be hit with a chappal’, there is practically no abuse that hasn’t been heaped on our current Prime Minister. All because he comes from a humble background, is someone without a Gandhi surname and is successfully governing one of the world’s most vibrant democracies.
Into this cringe fest stepped in ex Kannada actress and the head of Congress social media cell, Divya Spandana aka ‘Ramya’. Never the one to draw back from criticizing PM Modi, the current Congress IT Cell head posted the following tweet :-
https://twitter.com/divyaspandana/status/1057842482975817728
Likening the PM to the excreta of birds, this tweet was not only crass, but despicable to say the least. Needless to say, the Twitter cell of BJP responded effectively with the following :
Ummm no, it is the values of the Congress that are dropping.
Historical disdain for Sardar Patel + Pathological dislike for @narendramodi = Such language.
Clearly, @RahulGandhi’s politics of 'love'! https://t.co/1TPCY7Fs4d
— BJP (@BJP4India) November 1, 2018
But what came in as a surprise, was the onslaught of the very cabal that normally would leave no stone unturned to demonize PM Modi. The first shock came when Rajdeep Sardesai came out in support of PM Modi with this tweet :
BUT WHY? WHY these self goals? Why coarsen our already low level political discourse? Why not just apologise @divyaspandana and move on? We all make mistakes! https://t.co/N13BApptRi
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) November 1, 2018
To be honest, Rajdeep has been a known critic of PM Modi and doesn’t mince words while calling out against the policies of the incumbent government, even if his understanding is myopic on the same. But the current tweet was a literal bolt from the blue for everyone, even the most ardent BJP supporters.
Stung by his attack, Divya Spandana tried to give an effective retort with back to back tweets, as follows:-
When you’re done huffing & puffing take a breath & hold a mirror to yourselves. My views are mine. I don’t give two hoots about yours. I’m not going to clarify what I meant and what I didn’t cos you don’t deserve one.
— Ramya/Divya Spandana (@divyaspandana) November 1, 2018
Through her tweets, not only did she dismiss the criticism, but also tried to provoke the masses by insulting their mandate. However, this series of tweets triggered her own ecosystem, which swooped down on her for justifying such crass attacks. Next to support Rajdeep was surprisingly, Shekhar Gupta, who is another die hard critic of PM Modi and the current NDA government. He attacked her for her hypocrisy with the following tweets:-
First you ruin further the taste of our already rotten political discourse, then you insult our collective intelligence by claiming you’re referring to something else. This isn’t politics. How does this square with Rahul’s embrace of Modi with a pretense/promise of decency? https://t.co/ZpYF6YXzfk
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) November 1, 2018
Divya Spandana tried to dismiss these allegations with another arrogant tweet of hers :
And the right political discourse is having a gossip column masquerading as ‘juicy information’ in your publication- clearly setting high standards! https://t.co/tfpOH5eILg
— Ramya/Divya Spandana (@divyaspandana) November 1, 2018
However, the cherry on the icing was when two woman journalists, who are well known for their unabashed hatred for BJP and their open love for Congress, took on her arrogant tweets head on. The Wire journalist Rohini Singh and the ace NDTV anchor, Nidhi Razdan took her to the cleaners, with their following tweets :
https://twitter.com/EkashaGada/status/1057963767990902786
Then what is it a reference to?
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) November 1, 2018
Nidhi didn’t stop there, she went ahead and took her head on, in her series of tweets.
Congress sources say the party does not approve of this language used by Divya Spandana against the PM. Party should come on record. Once again, language used marks a low level in our politics https://t.co/ZrlRerjETx
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) November 1, 2018
Actually you can’t afford to take that position. You are a public figure, you represent a political party with an official designation. So the people of India DO deserve to know what you meant https://t.co/gELDg8Bgyn
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) November 1, 2018
She even resorted to personal attacks on Nidhi Razdan. Nidhi in her revert paid back in the same coin.
😁 how I wish I could. But I have a real job. I think you should go, the cool, fresh air of Kashmir will do you a world of good. Signing off https://t.co/yFrLf1dbrM
— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) November 1, 2018
However, it didn’t look as if Divya was even remotely apologetic about her atrocious tweets. She went ahead and called Indian voters “monkeys” :
Not my circus, not my monkeys. https://t.co/ANUANEt6oZ
— Ramya/Divya Spandana (@divyaspandana) November 1, 2018
This is not the first time Divya Spandana has been accused of such shameless criticism of PM Modi. She had earlier tweeted photoshopped images of his statues, with the word ‘CHOR’ embossed on his forehead.
Even when the #MeToo campaign cropped up, she shamed one victim when she leveled charges of sexual harassment against her own IT cell colleague, Chirag Patnaik. She even likened the RSS to the dreaded ISIS and Muslim Brotherhood. However, with her current tweets, she is only alienating the wholehearted support the party gets from the left liberals.
Only a few days ago, news emerged that ex ruler of Raghogarh and vitriolic Congress veteran Digvijay Singh and heir to the former Gwalior dynasty, Jyotiraditya Scindia, had a catfight in front of Rahul Gandhi over the selection of candidates for the Madhya Pradesh elections and now we witness another catfight of a Congress member with the very ecosystem the party thrives on.
Heaven knows if they can set aside the differences in time for the 2019 elections or will the catfights cause their own downfall? For now, we can’t help but grab some popcorn and cheer both parties in their catfights.
You go liberals!
