New Delhi, Apr 12 (TOI): A Twitter pun came at the cost of a controversy for Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. The Congress president’s tweet referencing the “miracles of Shirdi,” allegedly meant to be a jibe at union minister Piyush Goyal’s business concerns, had the chairman of Shirdi Trust demand an apology for hurting sentiments of devotees.

“Mitron, ‘Shirdi ke chamatkaron’ ki koi ‘seema’ nahin hai (Friends, the miracles of Shirdi are boundless),” Gandhi had tweeted from his verified handle @RahulGandhi. In this tweet, Gandhi linked to a Hindi news report detailing Congress allegations of disproportionate asset acquisition on the part of Goyal and his wife. One of the companies in question here is called Shirdi Industries. Goyal’s wife’s name is Seema.

Responding to Gandhi, Suresh Haware, chairman, Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi, tweeted: “Rahulji, rajnaitik aarop-pratyarop ke beech Shirdi ko kheenchna bahut dardnaak hai. Isse desh-videsh ke Sai bhakton ko bahut thes pahunchi hai. Sabhi Sai bhakton ki ore se hum iski ninda karte hain. Is apmaan ke liye Sai bhakton ki aapne maafi maangni chahiye (Rahulji, it is painful to see Shirdi dragged into political allegations and counter-allegations. This has hurt Sai devotees across the world. We condemn this on behalf of all Sai devotees. You must apologise to them for this insult).”
Reacting to the controversy, Congress said in a statement that the party “can’t even think” of insulting a saint and that the tweet was directed only at Goyal.