Tharoor had tweeted: “Nehruji was the first PM to call himself the Pradhan Sevak & the first PM to practice yoga daily (it sustained him in British jails). @narendramodi should realise that he is walking in illustrious footsteps! #InternationalYogaDay2019.” This led several Twitterati to point out that Nehru was the first PM which would make the rest of habits irrelevant while others wondered if PM Modi would also follow in Nehru’s footsteps by winning three terms.

On a day that Rahul Gandhi caused an apoplectic furore across the spectrum with an ill-advised tweet on Yoga Day, Congress’ Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor’s tweet trying to credit Nehru for Yoga day backfired.

Tharoor had tweeted: “Nehruji was the first PM to call himself the Pradhan Sevak & the first PM to practice yoga daily (it sustained him in British jails). @narendramodi should realise that he is walking in illustrious footsteps! #InternationalYogaDay2019.” This led several Twitterati to point out that Nehru was the first PM which would make the rest of habits irrelevant while others wondered if PM Modi would also follow in Nehru’s footsteps by winning three terms.

Nehruji was the first PM to call himself the Pradhan Sevak & the first PM to practice yoga daily (it sustained him in British jails). @narendramodi should realise that he is walking in illustrious footsteps! #InternationalYogaDay2019 pic.twitter.com/bjMTwkjE6N — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 21, 2019

Nehru taught humanity how to breathe. In fact he taught swimming to fishes. He was first to cook on fire, first to fly to Mars, first to discover gravity, first to invent zero, first to Google, first to win Oscar, first to score 200 in ODIs. I demand he gets one more Bharat Ratna https://t.co/4Q5mf2kQIE — गीतिका (@ggiittiikkaa) June 22, 2019

He was the first PM to practice yoga because he was the first PM. https://t.co/5AWVHyfCmB — Aaryan agrwal (@AgrwalAaryan) June 22, 2019

True. He was also the first PM to win three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. Narendra Modi is just walking into those illustrious footsteps. https://t.co/szPz3PfK2F — Rahul Roushan (@rahulroushan) June 22, 2019

People like you only limit yourself to sycophancy & comparison. Who & why are you still buttering with your incessant rantings? Nehru was also a first in steering the Nation into many wrong directions to satiate his greed to become the first in everything. Be a Man now & stop! https://t.co/Jtdykzl2yJ — manas misra (@manasmisraA) June 22, 2019

Wii you please inform this to your party president (innocent)Rahul. https://t.co/WIYmARWESx — ML Gupta (@guptamoga) June 22, 2019

INC did not realise it but Modi make it. Better inspire your leaders and Cadres to organise this in the coming years. https://t.co/8o2yj0lWNI — signal mitts (@subal_mitra) June 22, 2019

Mr Tharoor, i didn't know you could also joke! https://t.co/pnbfY8bvLl — Chetan Mehta (@chemet58) June 22, 2019

Who will tell this shampoo morons that if Nehru had actually practices Yoga why he did not popularise it for the poor people of India. He hated poor so much that he wanted Yoga only for elite and not for masses. If poor fall ill, they need medicine and that's where 'cut' is. https://t.co/IIX74zxDLC — राजेश (@marwari_heart) June 22, 2019

In a way it was reminiscent of the trolling that ensued after several Congress leaders tried to credit Nehru for the anti-Satellite tests which led to the hash tag #thingsNehruinvented.