VK Singh's excuse for #Disgust tweet: An overeager aide and an untimely phone call

It is a most awkward explanation for an error, more so as it comes from a person as responsible as former army chief and present minister of state for external affairs, General VK Singh. General Singh’s explanation for the ruckus over his #disgust tweet fiasco, as given to Firstpost by BJP party sources, goes something like this: On Monday night, after briefly attending the Pakistan Day function, he saw “the media lashing” and he was “shocked at the hyperventilation of media”. Singh thus took to Twitter to clarify his position and vent his outrage. His tweets were directed at those sections of the media who questioned his credentials. Now, this claim is already part of his official statement issued early this week. That statement, however, did not mention the rest of Singh’s account of the chain of events. According to Singh, while he was still composing the other part of #Disgust tweet, he got a phone call, and left his second tweet incomplete. That’s where his aide, responsible for managing his social media account, committed a grave mistake. The aide thought that his boss was done and clicked the send button. In matter of minutes, the damage was done. By the time Singh finished his phone call and composed the third #Disgust tweet, “Disgusted to see how certain sections of the media are twisting this issue”, it was too late and the issue had already blown out of proportion. “The General (Singh) is giving this explanation. If somebody as senior as him can’t understand how the social media and the mainstream media, particularly the electronic media, functions, what can we do? This was a sensitive issue and his words on #disgust were left hanging for varied interpretations. He should also understand that the government’s actions on issues of foreign policy cannot get influenced by the shrillness of a section of media," a senior party leader told Firstpost. The top party leadership was upset over Singh’s actions but chose not to respond in public. Responding to a query from Firstpost on the issue on Tuesday, BJP president Amit Shah said he would not comment on the subject. Since the matter pertained to a union minister, it is officially the in government domain. And by choosing not to respond, Shah has perhaps tried to keep the party out of the controversy. But the damage control process moved at a faster pace once Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Shah and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. General VK Singh was told off in no uncertain terms about the embarrassment and controversy caused by his tweets, and the way he had handled a simple protocol issue, sources said. The issue had become particularly embarrassing for the government since the Prime Minister himself had written to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to convey his good wishes on Pakistan Day, and emphasise on the importance of bilateral dialogue in an “atmosphere free of terror and violence’’. The leadership in the party and the government decided that General Singh should hold a press conference on Tuesday night itself and clarify his position on the subject. A media briefing at Tuesday 9 pm was quickly organised which is where he read out a written statement. Incidentally, around the time Singh was clarifying his position, Prime Minister Modi and his top ministerial colleagues were busy in another damage control exercise on a more contentious domestic issue, the land acquisition bill. Unlike in the General VK Singh issue, internal deliberations of the land acquisition bill have not concluded as yet. It is still unclear if the government will allow the ordinance on land acquisition to lapse or re-promulgate it when it lapses on 5 April.