The Twitter duel between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress over ‘data theft’ allegations is getting hotter. The latest to enter the debate is Union Minister Smriti Irani who took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi and called him “Chhota Bheem” on Monday.
In a series of tweets, Smriti Irani attacked Rahul Gandhi as she wrote, “.@RahulGandhi ji, even ‘Chhota Bheem’ knows that commonly asked permission on Apps don’t tantamount to snooping”.
Chotta Bheem is a cartoon character popular among children in India.
.@RahulGandhi ji, even ‘Chhota Bheem’ knows that commonly asked permission on Apps don’t tantamount to snooping.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 26, 2018
She also launched a scathing attack on the Congress and asked the party, why it “sends data to Singapore Servers which can be accessed by any Tom, Dick and Analytica? “.
Now that we’re talking tech, would you care to answer @RahulGandhi ji why Congress sends data to Singapore Servers which can be accessed by any Tom, Dick and Analytica? pic.twitter.com/U5YLTckBsf
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 26, 2018
On the Congress deleting its official smartphone application from Google Play Store, Irani took another jibe at Rahul Gandhi saying, “Ye kya @RahulGandhi ji it seems your team is doing the opposite of what you asked for. Instead of #DeleteNaMoApp, they have deleted the Congress App itself”.
Ye kya @RahulGandhi ji it seems your team is doing the opposite of what you asked for. Instead of #DeleteNaMoApp, they have deleted the Congress App itself 😂 pic.twitter.com/NrbMxz57gs
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 26, 2018
The Indian National Congress (INC) app, which was available in the Google Play Store till morning, disappeared post noon.
Earlier in the day, BJP IT-cell head Amit Malviya had said that the Congress was sharing the data with “friends” of Rahul Gandhi in Singapore and alleged that the Congress was leaking details of its users to Maoists, stone pelters and even the Chinese.
“Hi! My name is Rahul Gandhi. I am the President of India’s oldest political party. When you sign up for our official App, I give all your data to my friends in Singapore,” tweeted Malviya along with a screenshot of the ‘With INC’ app with its location in Singapore.
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to launch another attack on BJP over PM Modi’s NaMo app after BJP’s IT-cell head Amit Malviya allegations.
The Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, “Modi’s NaMo App secretly records audio, video, contacts of your friends & family and even tracks your location via GPS. He’s the Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians.”
“Now he wants data on our children. 13 lakh NCC cadets are being forced to download the APP,” added Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi’s jibe against PM Modi comes after a France-based hacker Elliot Alderson claimed that NaMo has compromised the personal data of millions of Indians, who had downloaded the app on their mobile.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that the NaMo app is sharing data with “American companies”. In a tweet, he accused the NaMo app of being involved in data theft.