The interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Hindi news channel News Nation is continuing to trend for all the wrong reasons for him. On Sunday, Modi was criticised for claiming in the interview he had told “experts” planning the Balakot air strike that heavy cloud cover could, perhaps, help prevent detection of Indian Air Force pilots flying the mission.
Late on Sunday, however, new clips from the interview gave even more ammunition for critics of Modi. When responding to a question from the News Nation journalists on how he became a “gadget freak”, Modi replied that his fascination with technology started long before he became chief minister of Gujarat. Modi claimed that he “started using the (Stylus) pen (used on touchscreen devices) in the 1990s”.
He then said, “Perhaps—I don't know if there were others—I first used a digital camera around 1987-88”. It is unclear whether Modi meant to say he was first person to ever use a digital camera in India.
Modi claimed he had taken an image of BJP patriarch L.K. Advani while in Viramgham Tehsil, near Ahmedabad, and sent it via email to Delhi. Modi claims, “at that time, very few people had email”. He adds Advani was “very surprised” when he saw his colour photo printed in Delhi the next day.
Not surprisingly, critics of Modi took the opportunity to target him, pointing out that Nikon sold its first digital camera only in 1987. Some social media users even claimed such digital cameras would have been exorbitantly priced in India and used the comment to ridicule Modi's frequent affirmations that he had risen from poverty.
Other social media users pointed out that state-owned telecommunications company VSNL had started the first internet service in India for the public in 1995. Email and internet services in the 1980s were mostly restricted to research and academic institutions, they added.
Divya Spandana, head of social media operations for the Congress, was among the first to latch on to the utterances on email and digital camera by Modi.
She tweeted, “The question is even if he did have an email id in 1988 when the rest of the world didn’t, who was he sending emails to?..”. In another tweet, Spandana played a pun on the name of the popular US technology company AOL, a pioneer in provision of public internet services. She wrote, “Any guesses as to what @narendramodi email id was in 1988? dud@lol.com is my guess”
Congress leader Rajeev Satav accused Modi of “trying to bluff people”. Satav tweeted, “Modi Ji has now claimed to use digital camera & email services even before its advent in India. After failing to deliver good governance,Modi ji has also failed with his research & is trying hard to bluff the people. Modi ji is justifying the famous quote 'Old Habits,Die Hard'.”
Shahid Siddiqui, former MP and editor of Nai Duniya, used the interview clips to bring up earlier claims by Modi that had been criticised as being outlandish. Siddiqui tweeted, “Modi invented digital camera, email, like gas from the gutter & clouds, which could not be penetrated by radars...”
The comments about the Balakot attack, email and use of digital cameras are not only things from the News Nation interview being used to troll Modi. Several social media users circulated screenshots from the interview that show what appears to be a question and answers.
Spandana shared a screenshot and video clips, claiming, “Pause the video at 3 seconds & take a good look, it has the question & ahem the answers too!Now you know why no press conference or debate with @RahulGandhi”.