In a Twitter face-off between Shashi Tharoor and Ramdas Athawale, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) turned out to be the collateral damage.
The episode started with the Congress MP from Kerala posting a photo of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replying to the discussion on the Union Budget 2022, where Union Minister Ramdas Athawale can be seen in the background. Pointing out the Minister’s reaction, Tharoor wrote that the “stunned and incredulous expression” proves even the treasury bench couldn’t believe the Finance Minister’s claims about the economy and her Budget.
However, while tweeting, Tharoor, who is often called the Internet’s English teacher, made spelling errors which Athawale was in no mood to let go of. Pointing out the mistakes, the Union Minister wrote: “Dear Shashi Tharoor ji, they say one is bound to make mistakes while making unnecessary claims and statements.”
Now, it is while acknowledging his mistake that Tharoor brought JNU into the battle. In a veiled reference to the new vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipadi Pandit’s press release, which had recently made news because of the grammatical mistakes, Tharoor said: “Careless typing is a bigger sin than bad English! But while you are on a roll, there’s someone at JNU who could benefit from your tuition.”
