New Delhi: Social media has lauded the gesture of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who, burying the political differences, visited senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram candidate Shashi Tharoor in a hospital and enquired about his health.

Sitharaman, after completing her visit to Thiruvananthapuram and returning to Delhi, visited the hospital where Tharoor was undergoing treatment after the balance scale fell on his head during thulabharam at Gandhari Amman temple at Pulimoodu on Monday last. After the photo went viral on social media, people started expressing their appreciation at the Minister’s gesture.

‘We are no doubt political rivals but we are not rivals out of it. When I came to know that he had suffered injuries in the head which required many stitches, I decided to visit him in the Medical College Hospital before leaving for the airport after my election campaign,’ she said.

Even Tharoor praised the BJP leader in a tweet for visiting him amidst hectic electioneering. “Civility is a rare virtue in India politics-great to see her practice it by example!” he tweeted.

‘I did not inform anybody in my party and decided to visit Tharoor at the last minute  just to avoid the rush and media glare at the hospital and not to inconvenience others,’ she clarified.