Published On : Fri, Apr 23rd, 2021

Tharoor deletes tweet on Sumitra Mahajan after BJP leaders say she is fine

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Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had to delete one of his tweets announcing the demise of former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday night after Bharatiya Janata Party leaders pointed out that she was hale and hearty.

Tharoor later said he was relieved that Mahajan is doing fine and said he banked on “a reliable source” in putting out his tweet.

“I am relieved if that is so. I received this from what I thought was a reliable source…. Happy to retract and appalled that anyone would make up such news,” he said in a tweet while replying to a message that she was fine.

“How am I sounding?…I am as healthy as my voice,” Mahajan told a reporter, who called up to enquire about her health after Tharoor’s tweet.

The former Lok Sabha speaker’s son Mandar put out a video clip, saying his mother is perfectly fine and urging people not to reply on false news being spread about her.

“My mother is perfectly fine. Please do not rely on false news being spread about her. Her COVID report is negative. I met her only in the evening and she is healthy,” he said in the video.

BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya tweeted back to Tharoor, informing him that Mahajan is perfectly healthy.

“Thanks @kailashOnline. I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra ji’s health and long life,” the Congress leader said in another tweet.

“Mahajan was admitted to the Bombay hospital in Indore on Wednesday after she had mild fever. She is fine now and does not have fever. She was also tested for COVID and her RT-PCR report has come negative,” Rajesh Aggarwal, a close aide of the former Lok Sabha speaker, told sources.

Mahajan (78) was the Lok Sabha speaker from 2014 to 2019. She had earlier represented the Indore Lok Sabha constituency in Parliament for eight terms.