Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor turned a Twitter discussion on pollution and Delhi’s air quality to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Responding to a story about a gadget hanging around his neck, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said that it helps neutralise the air, but can’t deal with the “bigger problem” in Delhi.
“Actually I’m told it helps neutralise the PM 2.5 molecules in Delhi’s air. But a bigger problem in Delhi is what to do with the far more toxic & harmful PM 2.0 molecules of Mr. Modi’s second term,” Tharoor said on Twitter on Sunday.
Actually I'm told it helps neutralise the PM 2.5 molecules in Delhi's air. But a bigger problem in Delhi is what to do with the far more toxic & harmful PM 2.0 molecules of Mr. Modi's second term. https://t.co/wqhYRSItaT
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 23, 2020
The discussion started on February 7 when a user posted a zoomed-in image of the gadget and asked the Congress leader: “What is this Device Tharoorji?” Tharoor responded: “It’s an air purifier (negative ioniser). Delhi’s air is pretty unbreathable. I don’t need it in Thiruvananthapuram.” A negative ioniser electrically charges the air molecules around it and removes polluting particles, thereby purifying the air.
What is this Device Tharoorji? @ShashiTharoor pic.twitter.com/CDUyqxeNF5
— MATTS (@MATTSMATTS) February 7, 2020
Tharoor took a news item about that discussion and posted it today along with the tweet above.
The Congress MP had created a controversy in 2018 when he used scorpion metaphor to describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A criminal complaint was filed against Tharoor under Section 499 (defamation) for the remark.
Tharoor had again made controversial remarks at a gathering in 2018. He had reportedly said that the BJP, if voted to power, will rewrite the Constitution and create a “Hindu Pakistan”. A court in Kolkata had even issued an arrest warrant against him. The politician, however, defended his remarks in a Facebook post.
Some of his remarks were even too hot to handle by his party, the Congress. He had once asked people to work on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2), rather than enjoy holiday. The Congress had then said that this is the minister’s personal views.
And the famous “cattle class” remark had angered the Twitterati as well as his party colleagues. Tharoor later apologised for comparing the economy class travellers in the flights to cattle class, calling it a “silly expression”.