After Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday elaborated on a $266 billion economic stimulus package during a presser, a state legislator from the country's main opposition party Congress used a “dog meme” on Twitter as a satire to lampoon it.
Congress lawmaker from the Gujarat constituency, Amit Chavda shared a video of a dog jumping below a glass table to grab a treat. It was captioned as “20 lakh crores for the people of the country ...”. The "20 lakh crores" refers to the actual amount of government stimulus in Indian rupees.
But Chavda's meme left many red-faced, igniting Twitter for comparing the citizens of India to a dog. Outraged BJP politicians have described the act a “distasteful jibe”.
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga also lashed out at Chavda in a tweet, saying that comparing people to a dog reflects the poor mentality of the Congress party. He sought to know from Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi if she would act expel Chavda.
“Comparing the people of the country with the dog by the senior Congress leader shows the poor mentality of the Congress. It shows what the Congress thinks for the people of the country. Will Sonia Gandhi take action on Amit Chavda and exclude him from the party or Should they also be considered agreeable in this statement?”
The tweet has gone viral on social media with over 200,000 views. However, there has been no immediate reaction from Congress.