PM Modi's Twitter handle tags fake Nirav Modi, other parody accounts as part of #MainBhiChowkidar campaign, draws Congress jibes

The Congress and BJP engaged in another Twitter battle on Saturday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official handle shared a tweet by a parody account of Nirav Modi. The retweet thanked Nirav Modi for his “participation” in the #MainBhiChowkidar movement.The tweet tagging “@niiravmodi” was deleted later.After Congress leaders and other politicians and social media users pointed out the gaffe, BJP was quick was accuse the grand old party of sharing “photoshopped images”.The Congress responded: Congress IT cell head Divya Spandana had on Saturday posted a screenshot on Twitter which showed a tweet from Modi's handle thanking the parody account @niiravmodi for "participation" in the #MainBhiChowkidar movement.Spandana called the saffron party "Bot Janata Party", claiming that the prime minister's Twitter handle was thanking any handle which mentioned the #MainBhiChowkidar hashtag, even if it was mentioned in a negative light and was posted sarcastically by a parody account. Another Congress leader also jumped at the opportunity and said that the #MainBhiChowkidar "movement" could not run without "active participation of Nirav Modi & 'Mehul Bhai'". Other spokespersons Sanjay Jha and Priyanka Chaturvedi also mocked BJP over the issue.Odisha Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik expressed surprise at the fact that the "chowkidar" was thanking him for a tweet mocking the #MainBhiChowkidar hashtag.National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also reacted on this issue on Twitter. Earlier on Saturday, Modi had urged his supporters to take the 'main bhi chowkidar' pledge, saying he is not alone in the fight against graft and social evils.Modi has often described himself as a "chowkidar" who would neither allow corruption nor get corrupted himself.Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly hurling the "chowkidar chor hai" jibe at Modi to claim irregularities and favouritism in the Rafale fighter jet deal, a charge the BJP-led government has rejected.With inputs from PTI