New Delhi, June 9 (IANS): Amid the Sino-India military standoff on the LAC in eastern Ladakh, the barbs between the government and opposition started with poetic verses along with tough questions from the principal opposition party.
Amid news of talks, Congress' Manish Tewari said, "Talks are fine. Question is how many kilometres of Indian territory has been occupied by the Chinese? Who is responsible for this failure at the tactical, strategic or intelligence levels?"
He took potshots saying "Is it the case that no one killed Jessica?"
The war of words between the Congress and the BJP intensified after Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at Home Minister Amit Shah after he claimed that India is the only country after the US and Israel to protect its borders.
The Congress leader said "everyone knows the reality of the borders".
"Everyone knows the reality of the borders, but 'Shah-yad' (maybe) it's a good idea to keep one's heart happy," Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi, where ‘Shah' meant Amit Shah.
A day after Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh responded to former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's jibe at Amit Shah, "Haath me dard ho to dawa kije, haath hi jab dard ho to kya kije (You apply medicine to the hand when it pains, but what to do when the hand itself is the cause of pain)," Rajnath Singh said in tweet in reply to the Congress leader, where the defence minister replaced ‘Dil' (heart) with ‘Haath' (hand) from the original couplet.
The Defence Minister made the reference in relation to the Congress' election symbol.
Rahul Gandhi responded on Tuesday "Once RM (Defence Minister) is done commenting on the hand symbol, can he answer: Have the Chinese occupied Indian territory in Ladakh?"
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a tweet "Denigrating Party Symbols of Opposition isn't same as Defending India. Will Rajnath Singh ji answer the simple question posed by Rahul Gandhi?"
Rahul Gandhi on June 3 had questioned the central government over the military standoff with China in Ladakh. He had tweeted: "Can the government of India please confirm that no Chinese soldiers have entered India?"