Shashi Tharoor takes a jibe at Howdy! Modi event; trolled for his 'India' Gandhi tweet

Nehru & India Gandhi in the US in 1954. Look at the hugely enthusiastic spontaneous turnout of the American public, without any special PR campaign, NRI crowd management or hyped-up media publicity. pic.twitter.com/aLovXvCyRz

Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 23, 2019

Tharoor post was a dig at PM Modi's mega event in Houston, US on September 20 where the PM addressed over 50,000 American-Indians at the NRG stadium.

His tweet has been retweeted for over 1,500 times and liked by over 11,000 tweeple in last 17 hours. However, the tweet has also invited a lot of trolling and backlash against Tharoor.

Tharoor, known for his impeccable language had a typo in the tweet. Although typos are part and parcel of the microblogging site, Tharoor's tweet mentioned Indira Gandhi as India Gandhi and received a lot of backlash. This gaffe later became a trending hashtag on the platform as #IndiaGandhi:

Who's India Gandhi ? #IndiaGandhi . https://t.co/WU19DtMnSx

Yallappa Gulbarga (@YallappaGulbar1) September 24, 2019

We do not know any India Gandhi.
Because of all the good they have done to India we hardly remember them today.https://t.co/QKziqbh5oc#IndiaGandhi pic.twitter.com/18EufjGq5G

Indian (@krupayani) September 24, 2019

That moment when you spot a typo in @ShashiTharoor's post is like spotting one in @MerriamWebster Dictionary#IndiaGandhi pic.twitter.com/QQGhIG4qr4

Nelson (@neljp) September 23, 2019

Sycophants in 1974 : "India is Indira. Indira is India."

Sycophants in 2019 : "India Gandhi" #indiagandhi

Vedant Tushar Patil (@koolvedant) September 24, 2019

AAP bhi grammar ke pakke ho#indiaGandhi instead of #indiraGandhi https://t.co/SXpQzeO8Wf

Pramod Pagare (@Pramod150890) September 23, 2019

Moreover, the picture in his tweet drew a political debate as the photo was not clicked in the US but in Soviet Union (Magnitogorsk) in 1955.  However, the minister stood his ground and said, "I am told this picture (forwarded to me) probably is from a visit to the USSR and not the US. Even if so, it still doesn't alter the message: the fact is that former PMs also enjoyed popularity abroad...".

I am told this picture (forwarded to me) probably is from a visit to the USSR and not the US. Even if so, it still doesn't alter the message: the fact is that former PMs also enjoyed popularity abroad. When @narendramodi is honoured, @PMOIndia is honoured; respect is for India. https://t.co/9KQMcR0zTD

Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 23, 2019