Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar on Wednesday triggered a controversy by using objectionable language against a Twitter user who posed a question about the status of the city civic body's global COVID-19 vaccine supply contract on the social media platform.
"Tuzya Bapala" (to your father) replied Pednekar when a Twitter user asked "Contract Konala dila??" (To whom contract has been given?) while commenting on a Marathi news channel's tweet regarding the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) global tender on COVID-19 vaccine supply.
Pednekar, a Shiv Sena leader, later deleted the objectionable tweet, but by that time it had gone viral on social media platforms.
Opposition parties quickly latched onto the post to target the mayor.
"Being the first citizen of Mumbai, citizens expect civilised and cultured language (from her) in public domain," Bhalchandra Shirsat, a BJP corporator, said.
Rais Shaikh, group leader of the Samajwadi Party in the Shiv Sena-ruled BMC, said the Mayor should maintain the dignity of the office she is holding.
"This reflects very poorly on the high office she holds," Shaikh said, adding the goof up could have been made by her social media managers, but she should clarify on this.
Pednekar is also one of the spokespersons of the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the Mumbai civic body, which goes to polls in early 2022, since more than two decades.
Meanwhile, nine entities have responded to the BMC's global tender for supply of 1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses and their documents are under scrutiny.
Along with criticism by the opposition, the Mayor has also come under public scrutiny as people are criticising her for her objectionable tweet.
Here's what people are saying. Have a look.
According to a My Mahanagar report, the Mayor later gave a statement saying that on Wednesday, when she was at BKC for an event, a Shiv Sena member tweeted the reply using her cell phone. Pednekar added that she removed the tweet as soon as she noticed it.
With inputs from PTI.
