New Delhi, September 9: Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor threw jabs at the Centre on social media after the YouTube account of PMO India turned off comments for the last Mann Ki Baat video. The comment section was disabled in the aftermath of "dislikes" overtaking the number of likes for the clip. Modi Did 'Khilone Pe Charcha' Instead of 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' in 'Mann Ki Baat', Says Rahul Gandhi.

Tharoor, in his post on Twitter, shared screenshots of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's erstwhile remarks when he "invited criticism" towards the government claiming that dissent strengthens the democracy. The caption of Tharoor's tweet read: "My comments are turned off too! #NoQuestionsForBJP (sic)".

The Mann Ki Baat video, which has received more dislikes than the number of likes, was uploaded on August 30, 2020. A number of students had disliked the video and left scathing comments to mark their angst against the government's decision to conduct final year exams, NEET UG and JEE Main tests despite the outbreak of COVID-19.

Rahul Gandhi also questioned the Centre for allegedly attempting to mute criticism. He said the government can mute the "comment" or "dislike" options, but cannot suppress the voices of dissent.

Gandhi used #RRBExamDate tag along with his tweet, to draw attention towards the delay in declaring the exam dates. Despite the notification for the examinations, which was expected to provide jobs to over 1 lakh youth, being issued in February 2019, the exams were yet to be conducted. The government announced on Saturday that the RRB exams would be held from December 15.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 05, 2020 07:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).