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Updated: Feb 17, 2019 20:52 IST

Union railway minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday hit back at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his Twitter on India’s fastest train Vande Bharat after it broke down early on Saturday on the return journey to New Delhi from Varanasi, a day after it was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a day before its first commercial run.

“Modi ji, I think Make in India needs a serious rethink. Most people feel it has failed. I assure you we in the Congress are thinking very deeply about how it will be done,” Gandhi tweeted, tagging a report which claimed train 18 ‘breaks down’ 200 km outside Delhi.

Modi ji, i think Make in India needs a serious rethink. Most people feel it has failed. I assure you we in the Congress are thinking very deeply about how it will be done. https://t.co/3jKBOzEmE3 — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 16, 2019

Goyal hit back a day after on Sunday after the train’s first commercial run accusing Gandhi of insulting India’s intelligence and hard work with his mocking tweet.

“Rahul Gandhi has insulted India’s intelligence and hard work by mocking “Make in India”. He insulted the hardworking engineers of Railways who have put in backbreaking effort to build India’s first indigenous semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express,” he wrote on Twitter.

Rahul Gandhi has insulted India’s intelligence and hard work by mocking "Make in India". He insulted the hardworking engineers of Railways who have put in backbreaking effort to build India’s first indigenous semi-high speed train, the Vande Bharat Express #SuccessOfMakeInIndia — Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 17, 2019

The breakdown, and a resultant three-hour delay on Saturday, may have been caused by either stray cattle or an object coming under the train’s wheels,officials said.

On Sunday, Vande Bharat reached Varanasi an hour and 25 minutes late at 3:35 pm because of heavy fog.

The train can reach a top speed of 180 kmph. On its inaugural run on Friday, the train touched a top speed of 130 kmph.