Lalu Prasad's dig at PM Modi over yoga triggers Twitter battle

New Delhi, Jun 22: RJD leader Lalu Prasad's dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a picture of Modi and country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru doing yoga today triggered a war of words on Twitter, with BJP hitting out at Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi's absence from the celebrations.

Lalu had put up a picture of Nehru and Modi on Twitter that said "Difference between originality and unoriginality".

Terming Nehru as a practitioner and Modi as a preacher, Lalu said, "Difference between practitioner and preacher. First PM Nehru ji doing 'shirshasana' and current PM Modi ji doing 'Asan'."

Lalu had put up a picture of Nehru doing 'Shirshasana' (headstand) and Modi doing 'Ardha Matsyendrasana'. He also criticised Modi's posture saying it was "incomplete" and that it was only for a "photo-op".

In a retort, Union Minister and senior BJP leader Giriraj Singh took aim at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president-son Rahul Gandhi over their absence from the yoga celebrations which were held across the world.

"Practitioner family is hiding somewhere in the globe and preacher is everywhere on the globe," he said.

BJP general secretary Muralidhar Rao also said, "Where was RahulGandhi when world celebrated International Day of Yoga? Pandit Nehru did 'Shirshasana', Rahul least of all could have done 'Vrikshasana'."

He also retorted to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury's remarks on yoga and said, "Communist ideas are outdated. They don't understand the aspirations of present generation. Opinion by Sitaram Yechury on yoga reflects this."

Yechury had yesterday triggered a war of words on social networking sites over his remarks that "All yoga exercises can be noticed in dog's body movement."

He also said mass mobilisation to celebrate International Yoga Day by the BJP-led NDA government is an attempt to promote Hindutva agenda at the cost of India's secular democratic fabric.

PTI