Mann Ki Baat gaffe by PM left both mason and Shivraj red-faced

4

As the year 2015 comes to an end, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not like to remember the year gone by for several reasons.

Days after his gaffe during the playing of national anthem in Moscow caused unprecedented embarrassment, Prime Minister was facing yet another embarrassment, this time it was because of the misinformation through his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat.

In his last address, broadcast on Sunday, Modi praised a 70-year-old mason at a Madhya Pradesh village for having  built 100 toilets free of charge.

This is what PM Modi had said, “Hailing from a small village, Dileep Singh Malviya has decided that if somebody provides the materials for building a toilet, he will do it for free. Initiatives like these take the country forward on the path of development so it is natural that we feel proud of Dileep Singh.”

Dilip Singh Malviya, instead of being overwhelmed by the PM’s praise, felt red-faced clarifying that he didn’t deserve the accolades as he only constructed less than 50 toilets, and he had been paid for them.

“I have built 23 toilets in this village and another 20-25 in another village. I did not work for free but accepted delayed payments, ” Singh was quoted by NDTV.

Even the village sarpanch (head) Suresh Varma appeared angry and disagreed with the Prime Minister’s remarks during Mann Ki Baat that he did not even have a toilet at his home.

He said, “I found out the reason for misinformation. A local journalist misreported facts in his story about Dilip. He even reported that I did not have a toilet at home, which is not true. We will take action against him.”

Congress was too quick to pounce on the BJP pointing out the gaffe prompting the MP’s chief minister, Shivraj Chouhan to issue an angry clarification.

He took to twitter to issue a clarification.

Chouhan’s anger emanated from the reports that PM Modi’s comments on Singh was included in Mann Ki Baat only on the inputs received from the state government.

Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson K K Mishra said, “When the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan can misinform PM Modi about his home district, then one can imagine the state if affairs here and the level of corruption.”

Whatever the reason, hope 2016 brings gaffe-free year for the prime minister.

Previous articlePune to host Ranji Trophy cricket final from Feb 24
Next articleWhile Kejriwal champions Gandhigiri, Odd Even formula gets supports from influential quarters