Kerala Floods: Alphons Kannanthanam spent a night at a relief camp in Changanassery.
Highlights
- Alphons Kannanthanam spent a night at Changanassery relief camp
- Most people didn't sleep, thinking of an uncertain tomorrow, he tweeted
- Many tweeted, trolled with him hashtag #Kannanthanamsleepchallenge
Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam spent Tuesday night at a Kerala relief camp in flood-battered state - where lakhs have been forced to leave their inundated homes - and tweeted about it. He ended up being trolled for the well-intentioned gesture.
In a photo he posted on Facebook and Twitter, Alphons Kannanthanam, in a t-shirt and jeans, is seen lying down on a mattress on the ground.
"In Changanassery SB high school camp," said the post.
Within moments, Internet had a new hashtag: #Kannanthanamsleepchallenge. Several Twitter users posted their sleeping photos with hilarious captions.
The Tourism Minister later tweeted the picture with this caption: "most people didn't sleep, thinking of an uncertain tomorrow." The tweet tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and two union ministers Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan.
Some posts uncharitably called Mr Alphons "show off" while one dubbed him "comic relief".
A few days ago, a photo of the minister holding a baby during rescue operations was widely circulated.
Mr Alphons, who is from Kerala, has been touring the state extensively to assess damage caused by the worst floods in a century. 237 people have been killed since August 8 and over 14 lakh displaced after days of torrential rain earlier this month.
(Kerala has to rebuild itself after the worst floods in over a century. Hundreds have died and lakhs are homeless. Here is how you can help.)