Gujarat Minister, An MBA, Misspells Elephant, Says It Was Intentional

Deesa, Gujarat: An impromptu lesson during a school visit turned out to be a massive fail for Gujarat minister Shankar Chaudhary, who ended up misspelling one of the most common words in the English language. In images that have gone viral on social media, the minister is seen pointing at the blackboard after writing "E-L-E-P-H-E-N-T".

Mr Chaudhary, a BJP lawmaker, was at a government school in Deesa. As the error threatened to take on jumbo proportions on social media - he even trended on Twitter - the minister claimed that this was a teaching tactic, that he was testing the students and wanted to see if anyone could spot the error.

The 45-year-old may not sound convincing on the misplaced "e" but his party BJP asserts that he was trying to explain to students how certain words are spelt and pronounced differently.

Mr Chaudhary, the minister in charge of urban housing, transport and health, was earlier taken to court by an activist who alleged that his MBA degree was fake. In 2012, he was accused of surfing obscene sites on his iPad inside the Gujarat assembly, a charge that he stoutly denied. A forensic lab later said no offensive content had been found on his iPad.

The minister and others in the government have been touring Gujarat for the "Shala Praveshotsav", a scheme to encourage school admissions.