New Delhi: The Congress on Monday asked BJP to appreciate humour in politics, and said there was nothing vicious or malafide in the video put out by it that made fun of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for hugging world leaders.
"I think it is time that we started appreciating the virtues of humour in politics. I think it is time that we stop tilting at windmills. Whatever the view depicts is nothing but a sense of humour and a coining of words," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said when asked about BJP taking strong objection to the tweet.
"Puncturing of pomposity with humour is very important," he said.
The Congress leader also said the content cannot be said by any stretch of perverse or normal imagination to be vicious or in any sense meant to create a malafide intent.
"I will say that certain sense of humour should not escape us and that is all that depicts," he said.
The Congress had on Sunday put out a tweet along with a video mocking Modi for hugging world leaders while carrying the hashtag "Hugplomacy" on its official twitter handle.
"With Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visiting India, we look forward to more hugs from PM Modi! #Hugplomacy," the Congress had said in the tweet.
The tweet came hours after Modi received Netanyahu at the airport, setting aside protocol, and embraced him as he deplaned.
The Congres on Monday put out another tweet that said: "Does the 'shah of shahs' not take his criticism even jokingly." It that carried a cartoon of Modi, along with top BJP leaders Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley.
In yet another tweet, the Congress highlighted the five "U-turns" made by Modi on issues like Aadhaar, FDI and ties with Pakistan and China, before and after he became prime minister.
Union Human Resource Development minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar had reacted strongly to Sunday's tweet, saying it showed the Congress's lack of political sensibility.
"What they have tweeted shows their immaturity and lack of political sensibility. We condemn this. I hope wisdom prevails on them some day," Javadekar had said.
He said the Congress lacke concrete issues, and since it cannot defeat the prime minister electorally, it posted such a tweet.
"This not only insults our prime minister but also the guest (Netanyahu). The Congress should not only withdraw the tweet but also issue an apology for it," he said.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress consistently abusued the prime minister and that the tweet was "appalling and unpalatable".
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