Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi landed in trouble on Twitter on Friday after he retweeted a tweet from a user hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would get coronavirus.
In the retweet that has since been undone by Quraishi, a tweet shared by one Zedsdeb (@DeadZedb) that said, "Dua ki darkhwast hai'. @DeadZedb had also retweeted a fake story that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had contracted coronavirus. In reality, it was Bolsonoro's press secretary that had contracted the disease. PM Modi had met Bolsonoro recently, promoting @DeadZedb to make the comment. That tweet was then retweeted by Quraishi.
Although Quraishi undid his retweet, screenshots began doing the rounds and Twitter was quick to react. He also apologised for the 'mistake' caused. "My extreme and sincere apology. I was trying to report this offensive and unacceptable tweet when perhaps I pressed a wrong button," he tweeted.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that no minister of the Central Government would be travelling abroad "in the upcoming days".
Modi also urged citizens to "avoid non-essential travel" and eschew large gatherings.
"The Government is fully vigilant about the situation due to COVID-19 novel coronavirus. Across ministries and states, multiple steps have been proactively taken to ensure safety of all. These steps are wide-ranging, from suspension of Visas to augmenting healthcare capacities," the Prime Minister tweeted, urging people to "say no to panic" and "yes to precautions".
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