Priyanka-Smriti Irani in verbal duel over Patel

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and union minister Smriti Irani had a verbal duel on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose 144th birth anniversary was celebrated by the country on Thursday.

Priyanka, in a tweet, took potshots on the BJP for celebrating Patel's birth anniversary and said that Patel was against the RSS. 

The Congress leader said that it (celebration by BJP) proved two things. ''First that it (BJP) does not have any legendary freedom fighter and second that even the enemies have to bow before great personalities like Patel,'' Priyanka said in her tweet.

Hitting back, Smriti Irani, who was currently on a two-day visit to her Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi, said that Congress did not have any ''respect'' for Patel.

''It is easy to criticise others on Twitter....if they (Congress) had any respect for Patel, they would have been here taking part in the Run for Unity,'' she said.

The union minister also said that Congress's opposition to the abrogation of Art 370 proved that the grand old party had deviated from the path followed by Patel.

On Wednesday also the two leaders had been engaged in a war of words over the alleged death of a trader in police custody in Amethi. ''Ordinary people are being harassed by the BJP government in UP,'' Priyanka had tweeted.

Smriti Irani hit back by saying that those, who had ''grabbed'' the land of the people, had no right to speak on the matter. BJP has accused the Congress of ''grabbing'' the land of the farmers for an NGO