Shashi Tharoor was trolled for tweeting Mahavir Jayanti wishes with a picture of Buddha
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was left embarrassed after Twitterati pointed out he had mistakenly posted a picture of Buddha while wishing his followers on Mahavir Jayanti. Mr Tharoor was trolled for the error, which he first briefly defended and later conceded. Instead of deleting the tweet, however, the politician said he was choosing to leave it up on Twitter, explaining that "honesty is always the best policy."
Mahavir Jayanti is the most important festival for the Jain community. This year, it falls on March 29 (today). It marks the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir, the last Tirthankara or saviour and spiritual teacher, in Jainism.
Mr Tharoor tweeted the Mahavir Jayanti wishes early this morning:
Twitterati were quick to point out Mr Tharoor's faux pas:
And troll him as well:
At first, Mr Tharoor appeared to defend his tweet, pointing to the source of his image:
Then after realising his mistake, the Congress MP tweeted: "Ttypos yesterday, Mahavira today.... Will take a break" (sic).
Soon, Mr Tharoor began tagging and calling out other media houses for using the wrong images, welcoming them to "the club of mistaken Mahavira pictures"
Replying to his critics, Mr Tharoor, a social media favourite, finally wrote: "I believe in owning up to my mistakes & not concealing the evidence of my errors... Honesty (as @stevesmith49 & co have found out) is always the best policy."
As it turns out, Mr Tharoor wasn't the only one to make this mistake.
Dimple Yadav, Samajwadi Party's MP from Kannauj and wife of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, also tweeted a picture of Buddha instead of Lord Mahavir to her followers.
And a BJP spokesperson alleged that the Congress in Karnataka had erroneously used an image of Buddha on a hoarding wishing people on Mahavir Jayanti.
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