On Tuesday, BJP’s National Incharge of Social Media, Priti Gandhi took to Twitter to criticise Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
“The man likes to believe that he knows everything about everything, but he & his claims fall flat EVERYTIME!!!” Gandhi wrote, sharing three tweets by the Thiruvananthapuram MP.
The tweets in question spoke about the fears of Electricity Boards when it came to the Prime Minister’s 9 Baje 9 Minute call to action, India’s decision to export hydroxychloroquine, and on Tuesday, fuel prices in the country.
The man likes to believe that he knows everything about everything, but he & his claims fall flat EVERYTIME!!! @ShashiTharoor pic.twitter.com/1gJ4NTVxOW
— Priti Gandhi (@MrsGandhi) April 21, 2020
While the comment section brought to our notice a mixed bag of support and dissent for the two politicians, it cannot be denied that Gandhi does have a point.
Take the 9 Baje 9 Minute electricity grid issue. While many had worried that the sudden drop in demand and the subsequent rise at 9:09 minutes would overwhelm the electrical grid and could cause power failures, officials had reassured that they had everything under control.
In fact, as The Free Press Journal reported on April 5, the power system remained stable and normal as panned by POSOCO, Power Grid Corporation, regional and state load dispatch centres and state power utilities. Power Minister RK Singh had said that the power demand fluctuation was handled “very very well by engineers across all levels”.
On April 10, Tharoor had criticised the Centre for relaxing norms and allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine. The anti-malaria drug is being seen by many as a stop-gap solution in the fight against the novel coronavirus. While not approved as actual medication to fight the virus, in the absence of a cure, it has gained immense popularity.
Tharoor quoted a news article to say that India was facing shortages, even as they allowed export to other countries.
The Centre soon countered this claim, with the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Lav Agarwal clarifying that the domestic stock had been taken into account before it was released.
“A lot of requests of HCQ already there and taking into view domestic stock and requirement and keeping sufficient buffer, a decision was taken by GoM to release some of the surplus medicine for export purposes,” had been quoted as saying by several reports.
Early on Tuesday, Tharoor quoted a news update on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude price in the US falling below $0 per barrel for the first time in history amid the coronavirus outbreak and reduced demand.
“Will the shameless government that has milked the public with extortionate fuel taxes for six years finally relent and pass some of this windfall onto the beleaguered Indian consumer?” Tharoor had wondered.
However, it must be mentioned that the WTI is an index for US oil prices, while the international benchmark is Brent crude. While India does export oil from the US, a majority of its oil imports are from OPEC countries — which means that the country follows the Brent benchmark.
According to an ANI report from Tuesday evening, while global benchmark Brent crude also fell sharply in response to the collapse of demand following reduced economic activity, it has plummeted nearly 22%, last trading at 19.92 dollars a barrel.
Thus, the lowered price argument doesn’t quite apply to India. Additionally, with the country under lockdown, even if prices are reduced, most people would not be able to avail the benefits of the discount.
After this tweet, Tharoor had been fact-checked after a fashion by fellow party member Milind Deora.
