SRINAGAR, Aug 7:
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti today took on each other with words — and emojis — to trade barbs on the issue of elections for the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
Twitter was the battlefield and humour a weapon as Abdullah accused Mehbooba of bargaining with both the Congress-led UPA as well as the BJP-led NDA for her two Rajya Sabha seats ahead of the elections on August 9, while his successor retorted that he was fabricating stories.
Before PDP announced its decision of abstaining from voting, Abdullah tweeted, “@MehboobaMufti has told the Congress she will support the UPA candidate for #RajyaSabha Vice Chairman. She’s also told the BJP she will support the NDA candidate. How does that work exactly?”
Mehbooba, who had to resign in June this year after BJP pulled out of the alliance Government, replied on her verified Twitter handle with a Pinocchio emoji, complete with a long nose, to depict a lying face.
She followed it up with a tweet saying, “Usually fake news and falsehoods are peddled by dubious news channels. But it’s baffling when a politician like @OmarAbdullah fabricates stories based on pure fiction. Such dangerous propaganda is detrimental to the truth and an attempt to mislead people.”
The National Conference leader responded with a smiling face and said, “Hats off to who ever operates your account for you. They actually have a sense of humour. Nice emoji use.”
Replying to Mehbooba’s claim about fake news, he added, “Fake news you would have ignored as I always do with your pronouncements. What I said has clearly pinched somewhere!” (PTI)