Biplab, however, stuck to his guns even though Twitterati trolled him for his “wisdom”. “Narrow minded people find it tough to believe this. They want to belittle their own nation & think highly of other countries. Believe the truth. Don’t get confused & don’t confuse others,” Biplab tweeted.
Indian politicians saying bizarre things with staunch conviction has almost become a norm. Recently, junior HRD minister
Satyapal Singh courted controversy with his comment that ‘mantras’ codified laws of motion before Sir Isaac Newton, even as he sought to clarify his earlier
remarks on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution that raised eyebrows, saying it was his “personal opinion”. [caption id=“attachment_4374357” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]![File photo of Biplab Deb. Twitter@BjpBiplab]()
File photo of Biplab Deb. Twitter@BjpBiplab[/caption] Now, Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has sent the internet into a tizzy. While inaugurating a two-day workshop on computerisation of Public Distribution System (PDS), Biplab said, “Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of Mahabharata. Sanjaya (the charioteer of king Dhritarashtra) using the technology gave a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of Kurukshetra”. The chief minister added: “The Europeans and the Americans may claim that it is their invention, but it is actually our technology. Internet and satellite system existed during the lakhs of year ago” (sic). “How could Dhritarashtra see through Sanjaya’s eyes? There was technology available at that time… Internet was there, satellite communication was there”, the 47-year-old chief minister said repeatedly and rather confidently. Deb heads the BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura coalition government that took power last month after defeating the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front for the first time in 25 years. The chief minister’s claims found one taker: Tripura governor Tathagata Roy. “Tripura chief minister’s observations about the happenings of the Puranic period are topical. It is virtually impossible to conceive of devices like ‘Divya drishti’, Pushpaka Ratha’, etc without some kind of prototype and study thereon,”
tweeted Roy. Biplab, however, stuck to his guns even though
Twitterati trolled him for his “wisdom”. “Narrow-minded people find it tough to believe this. They want to belittle their own nation and think highly of other countries. Believe the truth. Don’t get confused & don’t confuse others”,
Biplab tweeted. Twitterati troll Biplab Twitter, however, was not as understanding as the Tripura governor. “Why didn’t Pandavas play online poker then? Draupadi would have been spared”, wrote Twitter user Mayank Jain. “Of course internet existed during that time. That’s how Kunti downloaded Karna from the Sun”, riffed another. “_Sahi party mein ho bhaiya! (_you’re in the right party)” went another. Here are a few other reactions:
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