Sunday, 16 May 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
A slip of tongue by the chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat was presented in an incomplete video clip which spread swiftly on the social media. While interacting with mediaperons during his visit to Gopeshwar in Chamoli district on Saturday, the chief minister said, “We are administering the Covid vaccine swiftly. Providing oxygen to those in the 18-44 years age group has also been started,” he said, before correcting himself in the next sentence replacing the word ‘oxygen’ with ‘vaccine’.
However, the incomplete video clip of his media interaction which ended with the slip of tongue was soon spread on social media eliciting questions, criticism and ridicule from social media users. As the edited clip of the chief minister’s statement spread on the social media, the state government issued a clarification in the evening along with the complete video clip. In the complete video clip the CM also exhorted the public to get vaccinated without fail as it is essential to defeat Covid-19.
According to the state government, only a portion of the video clip was spread on social media with questionable intentions while editing the part in which the CM corrects his slip of tongue. The general public was appealed to not use and forward the edited video.It is pertinent to mention here that though the chief minister has elicited questions with some of his statements in the past, attempts were evidently made to project a minor slip of the tongue into something major by spreading the edited video clip on Saturday. However, while some supporters of rival politicians, critics and other social media users were seen trying to exploit the opportunity, there were some including rival politicians who shared the complete video clip to clear the picture.
