Union Finance Minister has been under fire from his critics both in the rival parties and within the BJP for its questionable economic policies. But on Friday, his ministry was under fire for a tweet that did not make sense at all prompting social media users to conclude that it was unable to manage its social media handle, let alone managing the country’s economy.
News 18 had flashed a breaking a news alert on how one person was apprehended in Delhi for ‘selling crackers to people secretly.’ Even though the news item was unrelated to Union Finance Ministry, its official Twitter handle responded with words that did not make any sense at all prompting social media users to crack jokes on the ministry’s inability to manage its social media handle.
Many were quick to draw a parallel with the US President Donald Trump’s ‘Covefefe’ moment some months ago. Trump’s accidental post of ‘Covefefe’ tweet had gone viral across the globe. Just like Trump, the finance ministry’s Twitter handle too did not correct the mistake even more than an hour after hundreds of users pointed out the gaffe.
The guy who handles this handle also most probably handles the ministry of finance. The maturity levels are the same https://t.co/p0tlNvC0kC
— Hypocrisy Watch (@bigotry_watch) October 20, 2017
Ministry of Finance @FinMinIndia finally breaks its silence on Jay Amit Shah issue pic.twitter.com/1P6EqJ7A30
— Wideawakegentile (@The_Indian_Goy) October 20, 2017
Dear Handler ….Please Pan thooke Boliye …
— SG⏺️ (@srikanthbond007) October 20, 2017
Lagta Hai Mulayam Ji ye handle chala rahe hain. ??
— Roopal (@roopal01) October 20, 2017
श्रीमान @TajinderBagga जी अपने असली एकाउंट से आकर ट्वीट करें । धन्यवाद । ?
— punya prasun bajpai (@ppbajpai_) October 20, 2017
Explanation of GST in one line.
— Encounter (@Shahcarsm) October 20, 2017
This is a secret code for ambani ji. Normal ppl don’t waste time
— Vinay Kumar Dokania (@vinaydokania) October 20, 2017
The tweet was posted at 15.08 on Friday, but it was still live on the the official page of Ministry of Finance until 16.34 at the time of writing this report.
This is not the first time that the official Twitter handles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ministries have come under the spotlight.
In October last year, the official Twitter handle of the Indian postal service had posted a political tweet targetting Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal.
The tweet had said, “You’ve failed us big time Mr Kejriwal, for you petty political gains you can become headlines for Pakistani press.”
The same year in September, the railway ministry’s official Twitter account had retweeted a political tweet against Kejriwal.
In July last year, the official Twitter handle of Start Up India, Modi’s pet scheme, had shared a tweet that wanted to give Indian army the freedom for a day to ‘take care of ‘pro-Pak presstitutes.’