Congress was seen lagging behind the ruling BJP in paying homage to former PM PV Narasimha Rao on his birth anniversary on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is in Japan to attend G-20 Summit, was the first senior leader to pay respect to Rao.
Modi tweeted: "Remembering Shri PV Narasimha Rao Ji on his birth anniversary. A great scholar and veteran administrator, he led the nation at a crucial juncture of our history. He will be remembered for taking pioneering steps that contributed to national progress."
Following the suit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also took to Twitter to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister.
"My tributes to India's former Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao Garu on his birth anniversary. He steadfastly worked for bolstering the economy when it was in doldrums. His contribution will always be remembered," Singh tweeted around 7 am.
Hours after the senior BJP leaders' tweets, Congress rushed to mitigate the damage with a tweet from the party's official handle.
"We honour P. V. Narasimha Rao on his birth anniversary. He was a visionary leader who oversaw major economic transformations of the Indian economy and dismantling of the License Raj. His contributions to the nation shall always be etched in our memory," the Congress tweeted six hours after Modi's tweet.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh also paid tributes to the veteran Congress leader.
He said, "Remembering the 9th Prime Minister of India, Shri PV Narasimha Rao on his birth anniversary. His contribution to the nation's economy and the policy reforms laid the foundation of modern India."
Senior Congress leader including party president Rahul Gandhi, however, did not pay homage to the departed leader.
Earlier, Rao's grandson, NV Suresh, had sought apology from UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for doing "injustice" with the former PM.
Suresh said that AICC Secretary G Chinna Reddy's accusing Rao of trying to sideline Nehru-Gandhi family during his tenure was "not true".
It is believed that Narasimha Rao government's decision to appeal against a Delhi High court order quashing the Bofors case linking Rajiv Gandhi had soured relation his relation with Sonia Gandhi.
PV Narasimha Rao was the ninth prime minister of the country, from 1991-1996.
( With inputs from ANI )