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WB Congress tweets infamous Rajiv Gandhi quote, courts controversy

August 20, 2016 15:36 IST

The West Bengal unit of Congress was on Saturday left red faced after a controversial comment made by Rajiv Gandhi following 1984 anti-Sikh riots was posted from its official Twitter handle on the former prime minister’s birth anniversary, but the party claimed its account was hacked.

IMAGE: Following his mother's assassination, Rajiv Gandhi had said, 'When a big tree falls, the ground shakes'. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

The tweet on WBPCC Twitter handle said, “When a big tree falls, the ground shakes #BharatRatnaRajivGandhi.” It was later removed by WBPCC.

Rajiv Gandhi had made the comment following the anti-Sikh riots which broke out after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. The comment had created a major controversy.

When contacted, the state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury claimed that the official Twitter handle has been hacked and the comment has been posted with an intention to malign Rajiv Gandhi and Congress.

IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee pays homage to the former PM at Vir Bhoomi, in Delhi. Photograph: Press Information Bureau

“This tweet was not posted by anyone from the Congress who handles our Twitter account. Somebody hacked the official Twitter handle and posted this tweet. This is being done with the intention to malign Rajiv Gandhi and Congress.

“We condemn such attempts and we have decided to lodge a police complaint against hacking of our account,” state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said.

IMAGE: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at Rajiv Gandhi's memorial on his 72nd birth anniversary. Photograph: @officeofRG/Twitter

The nation on Saturday remembered Rajiv Gandhi on his 72nd birth anniversary with President Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders paying tributes to him at his memorial in New Delhi.