Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for only hugging "special people", not the common man.

"He call himself a common man, but hugs only the special ones. Modiji, why such compulsion? Farmers, labourers and youths too should be there," Gandhi said in a tweet attaching photograph of Modi hugging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Congress President's remarks came in the wake of the Prime Minister defending his hugs with world leaders saying that he was a common man and did not know any protocol.

During the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to India last week, the Prime Minister broke the protocol to receive him at the airport here and welcomed him with a hug.