Omar Abdullah goes on Twitter tirade against Congress' 'state politics' remark

New Delhi [India], Mar. 11 (ANI): The Congress' swipe at National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah for his remarks against the Opposition triggered a war of words between the political stalwarts that refuses to fizzle out any time soon. Abdullah's remark, earlier in the day, that said the early trends of assembly elections show it's a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) "tsunami" in Uttar Pradesh and not just a 'wave' even as he advised the Opposition to forget '2019' and start planning for the '2024 general elections' doesn't seem to have gone down too well with the Congress, which in a media briefing told the NC leader to focus on his 'state politics' rather than commenting on 'national issues'. Widely regarded for his political sagacity, Abdullah didn't hold back and unleashed a tirade against the grand old party on Twitter. "Why am I not surprised! If you can't stomach the truth from a genuine well wisher your party truly deserves what it gets," Abdullah posted as soon as a mediaperson tweeted about Congress leader Randeep Surjewala's comment on his remark at a press conference. Surjewala had said, "It will be good if state leaders, instead of commenting on national politics, focus more on their states and its people. We respect Omar Abdullah, but, he needs to focus on his party and matters of his state." Abdullah further tweeted and questioned the ideology of the Congress that was pre-emptive of this swipe. "Belonging to a small regional party precludes me from having a view on national issues or do my views only count if I turn in to a yes man??" he said. The Congress had also offered help to NC to revive itself after a crushing defeat to People's Democratic Party (PDP). "Thank you. I look forward to hearing from @INCIndia as to how exactly they will help my party revive itself. I'm always open to new ideas," he quipped. When a Haryana MLA tweeted that he did not agree with what Abdullah had to say, the NC leader, who would escape unscathed fr0m the evilest of tweets at this pace, said, "Fair enough jenab. I've never claimed to be the repository of all wisdom & knowledge, political or otherwise. I very much hope I'm wrong." Omar Abdullah even said that the Congress could, at any moment, call up and suggest the head of a TV channel to focus on his venture rather than commenting on national politics, if the channel keeps running the analytical coverage on the performance of the Congress in the Assembly polls. The Congress and the NC have been partners in alliance in Jammu and Kashmir and headed the state government for five years before the BJP and the PDP sewed an alliance to form their coalition government. Earlier in the day, Abdullah had expressed wonder and shock over trends that indicated the BJP winning by a huge margin in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which it eventually obviously did. The NC leader had tweeted, "Punjab, Goa & Manipur would certainly suggest that the BJP isn't unbeatable but strategy needs to shift from criticism to positive alternate." "I've said this before & I'll say it again the voter needs to be given an alternative agenda that is based on what we will do better." This tweet was, however, the one that got too big for the 140-character limit. "How the hell did almost all the experts/analysts miss this wave in UP? It's a tsunami not a ripple in a small pond." For the uninitiated, the BJP has won with a huge margin in both - Uttar Pradesh (312 out of 403) and Uttarakhand (56 out of 70) Assembly polls. (ANI)