Union minister VK Singh tags DM on constituent’s plea for bed, draws ire on social media
☰
India

Union minister VK Singh tags DM on constituent’s plea for bed, draws ire on social media

Former Army chief’s tweet leads many to question state of Covid affairs in UP, where Ghaziabad ‘MP has to launch social media appeal for assistance in own constituency’.

Neelam Pandey    
File image of Union minister and Ghaziabad MP V.K. Singh | Twitter | @Gen_VKSingh

File image of Union minister and Ghaziabad MP V.K. Singh | Twitter | @Gen_VKSingh

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Ghaziabad MP Gen. V.K. Singh (retd) took to social media Sunday, seeking the district administration’s assistance securing a bed for a Covid-19 patient in his constituency. 

The former Army chief’s tweet led many people to question the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh, where a member of the Narendra Modi government is having to launch a social media appeal for assistance in his own constituency. Some even mistook the tweet to be a personal appeal from Singh.

In his tweet, Singh quoted a message where he had been tagged, along with others. “@dm_ghaziabad Please check this out,” he wrote in response to a tweet saying “please help us, my brother needs a bed for corona treatment. Now beds are not being arranged in Ghaziabad. @shalabhmani @PankajSinghBJP @Gen_VKSingh”.

Soon afterwards, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, media adviser to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, took note and asked the Ghaziabad District Magistrate to take a look. 

Many Twitter users, meanwhile, posted scathing remarks in response to Singh’s tweet.

“You are the MP of Ghaziabad if you will also have to seek Twitter’s help for yourself then who (sic) will you help the people of Ghaziabad. Call the District Magistrate. They are not active on twitter,” said one user in a tweet that has since been deleted.

Another user added: “imagine the conditions of Ram Rajya”. 

ThePrint reached Singh for a comment on this report, but the call was answered by his media representative. The minister is in isolation after a few people he was in contact with at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways tested positive. 

“This tweet is not regarding his family,” said Kuldeep Singh Chauhan, the media representative. “He has not sought help for his family. Someone else required a bed and he tweeted on their behalf.”  

Singh offered a similar clarification in a subsequent tweet, where he also lashed out at those who misunderstood his initial post. He deleted his earlier tweet, which quoted the constituent’s plea, and instead retweeted it with a post tagging the DM.

Also Read: There’s a need to hold up a mirror to Modi govt on Covid management, and this is the picture

Surge in UP

Uttar Pradesh has announced a state-wide lockdown every Sunday till 15 May to check the spread of Covid-19, which is surging ferociously across India. CM Yogi Adityanath himself tested positive this week.

Uttar Pradesh reported 120 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, its largest one-day toll so far, and 27,357 new cases. The state has recorded 8,21,054 Covid-19 cases so far.

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)

This report has been updated with additional information

Also Read: Over 2 dozen IAS officers down with Covid, putting strain on already stretched civil service