In a span of seven hours and 20 tweets, the Congress and the BJP rode the politicisation of the Uttarakhand disaster to a new low.
At least a thousand lives have been lost in the hill state since flash floods struck earlier this month. Since then, parties have reached for political points nearly every day.
Today's downward spiral began when Congress leader Manish Tewari tweeted that neither of the Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of Parliament - Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley - have visited Uttarakhand, but have attacked the government for its ineptitude in rescue and relief operations.
Ms Swaraj retaliated: "The truth is that I woke you up about the scale of tragedy when I spoke to Home Minister on 18th June and tweeted about this."
Mr Maken, the new head of the Communications Department for the Congress, warned against political opportunism in one tweet, then quickly followed up with: "Pyre of many Victims of this Natural Calamity still warm. First BJP tried to take credit of evacuating 15000 in a day."
That last remark attempts to re-create the controversy around whether senior BJP leader Narendra Modi flew into Uttarakhand and helped rescue 15,000 Gujaratis in a day - a claim made in a newspaper report that was denied days later by the BJP.
At a press conference this afternoon, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni also attacked Ms Swaraj for suggesting that Vijay Bahuguna, the chief minister of the hill state, should resign. "I am saddened when all of India empathises with the loss in Uttarakhand, the leader of opposition, who could be a forerunner for Prime Minister, should say this," Ms Soni said.
1,500 people are still stranded in Uttarakhand; mass cremations are being held for hundreds of dead and decomposing bodies found near the famous temple of Kedarnath, the epicentre of the devastation.
Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien implored, "A humble request.Will all politicos call a truce on Twitter and stop mud slinging on Ukhand."
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