Chief Minister of 'The Foot in Mouth' Syndrome

With barely a month in office, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat is fast gaining a reputation for making insensitive and sensational comments on everything from ripped jeans to the PM.

The new Chief Minister seems to be making headlines often since he was sworn in on March 10. He first turned heads and gained widespread attention with his comment comparing PM Narendra Modi to the Hindu gods. He said it was ‘Lord Ram in Treta Yuga and Lord Krishna in Dwapar Yuga’. Modi, he hailed would do the same job in Kal Yuga.

This warranted strong outrage from Opposition parties as they refuted his comments with their own. Sunil Yadav, the spokesperson for Samajwadi Party, tweeted, “One stadium has already been named (after PM). I suggest a temple should be constructed in Ayodhya (for PM),” in retaliation to the remarks. The BJP’s top brass in Uttarakhand refused to comment, but, the media-in-charge came out in support of the CM’s comments.

This silent support only fuelled the new chief ministers’ zeal for inappropriate remarks. At an event, he talked about a lady (and ‘mother of two, as the CM had pointed out) who dared to sit next to him on a plane wearing ripped jeans and gumboots. The CM said he questioned the woman’s clothing as well as her ability to impart any values or, as he put it, ‘Sanskaar’ in her children. 

This story sparked even more widespread outrage. Female politicians and celebrities alike expressed their shock and anger at his remarks. It started an entire movement online, as women took to Twitter to post pictures of themselves wearing ripped jeans.

We had barely recovered from this, when the CM was quoted as saying, “America enslaved us for 200 years and ruled the world, but in today’s time, it is struggling.” This gave netizens the opportunity to make hilarious memes on this mistake which were circulated online.

At the same event, the CM also hit a masterstroke by saying that poor families that are suffering from starvation due to the pandemic should’ve birthed 20 children, to ensure they get more food grains, and pulses from government schemes. If only they'd been given this advice before Covid-19, the families would’ve been saved from starvation.

The Chief Minister’s wit extends to his legislative policies as well. He has taken a strong stand against the Centre’s guidelines to curb the crowds at the Kumbh Mela this year, announced due to rising in rising Covid 19 cases. While defending this move, he claimed, “faith will overcome the fear of the virus”. Two days after giving this defense the CM tested positive for Covid and has been under treatment at home.