Adhir tweet on Rajiv draws flak, Congress neta says account was hacked

NEW DELHI: A controversy erupted when screenshots of an alleged tweet by Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury showed him paying tributes to late PM Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary by using the controversial quote “when a big tree falls, the earth shakes”. Chowdhury said the tweet was not posted by him and alleged his account had been hacked.
The senior Congress leader filed a complaint with the Delhi Police alleging hacking and cyber crime. An FIR has been lodged on his complaint.
The tweet, disowned by Chowdhury, triggered a row as it contained a quote allegedly made by Rajiv Gandhi after Indira Gandhi’s assassination which were followed by anti-Sikh riots. The quote was widely slammed as rationalisation of riots, an accusation that lingers on after three decades and despite Congress argument that it was misconstrued and that Rajiv Gandhi was expressing sympathy with the riot victims.
As the screenshots of the alleged tweet went viral, politicians besides common users, attacked Chowdhury. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted, “What on earth did he think using this quote was going to do for his party or the memory of the leader he was paying tribute to? Congress doesn’t need others to pull it down when it does such a good job scoring self-goals.”
Sources in Congress said there is a possibility that it was a mis-tweet by some staffer who handles the senior leader’s account.