New Delhi: Actor-politician and Congress’ Social Media Cell head Divya Spandana on Thursday kicked up a row with her tweet “is that a bird dropping?” against a picture of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi inaugurating the statue of ‘Iron Man’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat.
Spandana, 36, tweeted a picture of Modi standing next to the 182-metre tall ‘Statue of Unity’ and made the controversial remark provoking a huge backlash on social media. Many felt it was a new low in the political discourse in the country.
Is that bird dropping? pic.twitter.com/63xPuvfvW3
— Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) November 1, 2018
Reacting to the cryptic tweet, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi stating that the “values of the Congress are dropping.”
BJP’s official Twitter account had this to say: “Divya Spandana’s contentious tweet was a result of Congress’ historical disdain of Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and a pathological dislike for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Is this Rahul Gandhi’s ‘politics of love.’”
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
— Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) November 1, 2018
Spandana, also popular as “Ramya”, responded to BJP’s comments and retweeted that her earlier tweet was about actual bird droppings. She circled on the foot of the massive statue behind Modi.
“When you are done huffing and puffing, take a breath and 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 because you don’t deserve one,” she said responding to BJP on Twitter.
This isn’t the first time Spandana mocked Modi.
Last month, she was booked for posting a Photoshopped image showing the PM writing the word ‘chor’ or thief on the forehead of a likeness of himself.
Now they piggyback on him. Hilarious.
— Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) November 1, 2018
Apologise for what Rajdeep? For having a sense of humour or for others not having it? Journalists should seriously focus on pressing issues and stop being sermonisers- https://t.co/Njzms26WdG
While registering a case of sedition against Spandana, Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police said her tweet gave rise to hatred against “a democratically elected leader” and defamed him.
“The post made fun of India in the international arena. She attempted to dent his image,” the First Information Report (FIR) against Spandana read.
Main apna fav hoon! @narendramodi iron man vs wax man 😀 https://t.co/GLdfqx5dpH
— Divya Spandana/Ramya (@divyaspandana) October 31, 2018
Also last month, her social media designation vanished from her Twitter bio, fuelling speculation that all was not well between her and her party.
The bio had described her as “actor, former Member of Parliament, currently handling Social Media and Digital Communications Cell for the Congress party.”