New Delhi: Newly-appointed Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has already found himself in the middle of a Twitter row after some of his old tweets surfaced online.
A section of social media users trolled the minister for using grammatically incorrect English in some of his tweets while others rallied to defend him.
Members of the Congress party such as Ritu Choudhary, national coordinator of the party, and Kirthi Ganesh, Karnataka State General Secretary of NSUI, the student wing of Congress, were among those who mocked Mandaviya.
It's ok for a scapegoat not to be much educated.#HealthMinister pic.twitter.com/LlnNuk6N9v
— Ritu Choudhary (@RituChoudhryINC) July 7, 2021
Only Modi can find such candidates! #GarbageReshuffle #HealthMinister pic.twitter.com/8OcbuSrziu
— Kirthi Ganesh – NSUI (@KirthiGanesh1) July 8, 2021
In one of his tweets that has gone viral, Mandaviya had written, “Mahatma Gandhi is our nation of father”. The tweet, which was posted in 2013, has since been deleted.
Several Twitter users support Mandaviya
Soon after tweets mocking Mandaviya’s English were posted, several social media users came out in support of the minister.
Calling the entire incident “unfortunate”, political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla tweeted: “Unfortunate to see so many fellow citizens trolling Mansukh Mandaviya ji for his lack of proficiency in English (sic)”.
Several others also called out those who were trolling the minister on his tweets. One such user tweeted: “English isn’t a prerequisite for governance”.
Judge me if you want but i find digging out old tweets of #MansukhMandviya & making fun of his english a shallow act. Tweets questioning his appointment as health minister is understood but judging him for his language skills is a digression#CabinetReshuffle #HealthMinister
— K (@Einqalaab) July 7, 2021
I have a serious problem with mocking people for lack of skills in English.
English isn't a pre requisite for good governance.
Ministers often give us enough to complain about, let's stop this superfluous nonsense.
— Mishi Choudhary (@MishiChoudhary) July 7, 2021
Before the Cabinet reshuffle Wednesday, Mandaviya held the independent charge of the shipping ministry and was Minister of State for the chemicals and fertilisers ministry.
The BJP leader, from Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and re-elected in 2018. He also served as chairman of the Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Limited.
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