Divya Spandana, the Congress's social media chief, was booked Tuesday in Lucknow's Gomtinagar for a tweet calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "thief".

She was booked under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (sedition) and Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act.

The FIR, filed by lawyer Syed Rizvan Ahmed, says Spandana tweeted an "utterly insulting" post Monday; it shows Modi painting the word "chor" -- or thief -- on the forehead of a likeness of himself.

In recent days, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, too, has called Modi a thief, after a media house quoted former French president Francois Hollande as saying the Indian government "proposed" Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence as Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation's Indian partner for the offset clause of the agreement.

"We didn't have a choice in the matter; we took the interlocutor who was given to us," Hollande told Mediapart (see more below).

'TWEET GAVE RISE TO HATRED AGAINST PM'

The FIR said Spandana's tweet gave rise to "hatred" against the prime minister -- a democratically elected leader -- and defamed him. The post made fun of India in the international arena, it said.

"Oh well."

That was Spandana's response, posted today, to a tweet containing a link to a news report on the FIR against her.

RAFALE ROW INTENSIFIES AFTER HOLLANDE BOMB

After Mediapart, a French company, published the story on Hollande's remarks last week, a war of words ensued back home.

Rahul Gandhi accused Modi and Ambani of carrying out a Rs 1,30,000 crore surgical strike on the Indian defence forces.

READ | Was not in power when Rafale deal was signed: Emmanuel Macron at UN

The BJP, on the other hand, claimed Dassault Aviation refused to work with a firm linked to Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra; it accused the Congress of trying to wreck the deal to take revenge.

It said Rahul Gandhi was involved in a "conspiracy internationally", and that Francois Hollande was part of a "nexus" to sabotage the procurement.

Inputs from Kumar Abhishek

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