Giriraj Singh ignites fire in NDA with snide tweet over iftar

New Delhi: Union minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday mocked his NDA colleagues for attending ‘iftar’ parties, drawing sharp reactions from them that prompted BJP president Amit Shah to step in to douse the fire by admonishing the fiery Hindutva leader and asking him to avoid making such comments.

Mr Singh posted four pictures of key Bihar NDA leaders, including chief minister Nitish Kumar and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, attending ‘iftaar’ parties and put out this snide tweet.

“How beautiful would the picture have emerged, had phalahaar (a fruit feast) been organised during Navaratra with the same fervour with splendid photographs taken. Why do we lag behind in observance of our own karm-dharm (religious customs) in public, while staying ahead in pretension,” he tweeted in Hindi.

Lashing out at Singh, JD(U) leader and state minister Ashok Chowdhury said, “Had anybody stopped Giriraj from arranging phalahaar during Navaratra? I wish to warn him, not the entire BJP, but him alone, that he must refrain from making such statements.”

“Giriraj must remember that his party is part of a coalition government and he owes his big victory in the LS polls in no small measure to the support of our leader (Nitish Kumar),” Chowdhury said.

As fire within the ruling coalition raged, Shah called up Singh and admonished him for his tweets.