The ‘1.3 Billion’ Conundrum: Unimpressed Netizens Question Shashi Tharoor Why He Had Used The Same Figure Earlier

Veteran Indian National Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has mired up yet another controversy. He faced the flak of social media users for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi for using 130 crore as the population figure of India, while he himself had used the same figure earlier.

In a tweet on the day of Ayodhya Ram Mandir bhumi pujan, Tharoor said, “PM Modi congratulated 130 crore Indians when he spoke at the RamMandir yesterday. But India's population is estimated at 1,38,00,04,385 in mid-2020, a/c to UN data. An omission of 8 crore people is worrying to many, after CAA/NRC. If inadvertent, a correction would be reassuring.”

However, the attempt by Shashi Tharoor to point out that the Prime Minister missed the actual figures of population left the netizens unimpressed.

Multiple users later pointed out that Tharoor himself had used the figure of 1.3 billion in one of his tweets in the month of May this year.

One user remarked, “ Shashi, 49 kids are born in India every minute. So whatever population figure you quote at any point of time, it'll change in next sec. Hence it always has to be said in approximation and round figure. Please stop being a dum-b in order to make Rahul Gandhi appear intelligent.”

Another said, “While calculating Modi’s omissions, Shashi Tharoor omitted 4385 people. Is he planning to put them in Hotel Leela Palace?”

Another user took a dig at Tharoor by referring to an article in India Today which stated that the then INC president Rahul Gandhi had changed the price of Rafale fighter jets four times in 5 months.

Several users also alleged that Shashi Tharoor is inciting hatred by bringing the issue of CAA/NRC in an already tense atmosphere. They stated that being a senior leader with a vast followers base, Tharoor must be more vigilant about what he tweets.