Former chief ministers of the State of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday indulged in a war of words on microblogging website Twitter after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded the Malegaon blasts accused Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal parliamentary seat.
The spat began with Mehbooba taking to Twitter to criticisethe BJP for fielding Thakur who is out on bail in Malegaon blasts case.
“Imagine the anger if I’d field a terror accused. Channelswould’ve gone berserk by now trending a mehboobaterrorist hashtag! According tothese guys terror has no religion when it comes to saffron fanatics butotherwise all Muslims are terrorists. Guilty until proven innocent (sic),”tweeted Mehbooba.
Imagine the anger if I’d field a terror accused. Channels would’ve gone berserk by now trending a mehboobaterrorist hashtag! According to these guys terror has no religion when it comes to saffron fanatics but otherwise all Muslims are terrorists. Guilty until proven innocent https://t.co/ymTumxgty7
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 17, 2019
“These guys” were your allies until they unceremoniously unseated you. “These guys” have been this way before they came to power in 2014 but you only noticed their sins after June 2018.The desire to remain in power blinded you to their crimes until “these guys” forced you to see! https://t.co/sLdlmHnYlT
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 18, 2019
Mehbooba was quick to respond to Omar’s allegations sayingthe NC leader who was a junior minister in Vajpayee government did not resigneven after Gujarat riots.
“Someone’s had a belated reaction to my tweet! As theirfirst ally from J&K you’d know their true colours since you served as anMoE under NDA. Oddly enough Ram Vilas Paswan resigned post Gujarat carnage onmoral grounds but you chose not to. Consume almonds Omar. Improves memory(sic),” Mehbooba said in another tweet.
Someone’s had a belated reaction to my tweet ! As their first ally from J&K you’d know their true colours since you served as an MoE under NDA. Oddly enough Ram Vilas Paswan resigned post Gujarat carnage on moral grounds but you chose not to. Consume almonds Omar. Improves memory https://t.co/9pT9OWZnVQ
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 18, 2019
To this, Omar responded that he would debate his tenure withMehbooba directly and not with her “understudy”.
“When you are done tweeting for your mother you can tell herI’m more than happy to debate my 3 years with Vajpayee Sahib v/s her 4 yearswith Modi ji but I’d rather do that directly with her & not with herunderstudy,” wrote Omar.
When you are done tweeting for your mother you can tell her I’m more than happy to debate my 3 years with Vajpayee Sahib v/s her 4 years with Modi ji but I’d rather do that directly with her & not with her understudy. https://t.co/vCZo7mwOpa
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) April 18, 2019
Mehbooba responded by saying that you (Omar Abdullah) shouldanswer the questions rather than distracting from the topic.
“That’s no answer to my questions! Did I hit a raw nerve?Deflecting it with juveline comebacks wont help Omar. If I were you Id pop anantacid for the stomach burn (sic),” Mehbooba shot back.
That’s no answer to my questions! Did I hit a raw nerve? Deflecting it with juveline comebacks wont help Omar. If I were you Id pop an antacid for the stomach burn. https://t.co/tgY9RbtWvK
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 18, 2019
Editor-in-chief of news gathering agency Asian NewsInternational (ANI) Smita Prakash also questioned Mehbooba over using herTwitter handle.
“It appears as if a random person has gotten hold ofMehbooba Mufti’s Twitter handle. Tweets appear to be of some hyper kid orenthu-cutlet rather than an ex CM,” Smita asked.
It appears as if a random person has gotten hold of Mehbooba Mufti’s Twitter handle. Tweets appear to be of some hyper kid or enthu-cutlet rather than an ex CM.
— Smita Prakash (@smitaprakash) April 18, 2019
Mehbooba Mufti had earlier alleged that ANI was far frombeing a ‘neutral news agency’.
“ANI is far from being a neutral news agency now. When notfawning over the current regime, its busy discrediting major stories that harmPMs image. Alternate facts are created whereas real stories are pushed underthe rug. They only show you what BJP wants you to see (sic),” Mehbooba tweeted.
ANI is far from being a neutral news agency now. When not fawning over the current regime, its busy discrediting major stories that harm PMs image. Alternate facts are created whereas real stories are pushed under the rug. They only show you what BJP wants you to see. https://t.co/7vNzraoa6w
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 16, 2019