Smriti mocks Rahul over hunger index remark

New Delhi: As in the latest world hunger index report India's ranking slipped from 97 to 100th slot, a war of words erupted between Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani over the remarks made by Gandhi scion on hunger index.

Irani mocked Gandhi after he tweeted a report on the Global Hunger Index, according to which India had slipped three notches on the index and comes down to 100.

The report was tweeted by Gandhi with a Hindi couplet Bhukh hai to sabr kar, roti nahin to kya hua, Aajkal Dilli mein zer-e-bahes hai ye mudda (You might be hungry, but you should have patience, If you have nothing to eat, so what. This is the raging debate in Delhi these days).

Irani sought to repulse the offensive with another couplet Aye satta ki bhukh, sabra kar, aankde saath nahin to kya hua, khudgarzon ko jama kar, mulk ki badnaami ka shor to macha hi lengein (O, the greed for power, be patient. If the data does not support us, we can gather all selfish people around to malign the nation).

The jibe comes a day after an International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ranked India below countries like North Korea, Bangladesh and Iraq in its annual report on global hunger. The report stated that the country's serious hunger level is driven by high child malnutrition, with more than a fifth of Indian children aged below five weighing too little for their height and over a third too short for their age.