Soon after the conviction of Asaram, the Congress on Wednesday politicised it by sharing on social media a video wherein Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen with the convicted godman.
"A man is known by the company he keeps," tweeted senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh. The minute-long video shows Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister, addressing a gathering saying, "I have been lucky enough to seek Bapu's blessings from times when none knew him". The clip also shows Asaram hugging Modi and hailing the meeting between the two as an amalgamation of spirituality and leadership.
But the Twitterati quickly hit back at the Congress with many posting photographs of Congress leaders with convicted criminals. One of them also shared a photograph of Digvijay Singh touching Asaram's feet. "What about this.... with convicted criminal... please be big," said one of the Twitter users who tweeted a photograph of Rahul Gandhi hugging lalu Prasad.
People also posted pictures of former PM late Indira Gandhi with spiritual leader Dhirendra Brahmchari and an image of Rahul allegedly with a female associate at Boston airport caught for illegally carrying overvalued money.
Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar in a tweet requested not to politicise the conviction of Asaram whom he labelled as a 'child rapist'. "Can people stop sharing images of Asaram with PM Modi. Patronising him before he was exposed to be pervert is no crime," Akhtar tweeted.