Mumbai mayor's objectionable language in tweet triggers row

Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar on Wednesday triggered a controversy by using objectionable language against a Twitter user who posed a question about the status of the city civic body's global COVID-19 vaccine supply contract on the social media platform.

''Tuzya Bapala'' (to your father) replied Pednekar when a Twitter user asked ''Contract Konala dila??'' (To whom contract has been given?) while commenting on a Marathi news channel's tweet regarding the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) global tender on COVID-19 vaccine supply.

Pednekar, a Shiv Sena leader, later deleted the objectionable tweet, but by that time it had gone viral on social media platforms.

Opposition parties quickly latched onto the post to target the mayor.

''Being the first citizen of Mumbai, citizens expect civilised and cultured language (from her) in public domain,'' Bhalchandra Shirsat, a BJP corporator, said.

Rais Shaikh, group leader of the Samajwadi Party in the Shiv Sena-ruled BMC, said the Mayor should maintain the dignity of the office she is holding.

''This reflects very poorly on the high office she holds,'' Shaikh said, adding the goof up could have been made by her social media managers, but she should clarify on this.

A three-time corporator from Lower Parel in South Mumbai, Pednekar was elected the 77th mayor of the city in 2019.

Pednekar is also one of the spokespersons of the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the Mumbai civic body, which goes to polls in early 2022, since more than two decades.

Pednekar, whose father was a mill worker, had started out as a nurse before she joined the Shiv Sena's women wing in 1992. She was first elected as a corporator in 2002 and re- elected in 2012 and 2017.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Padnekar received praise from citizens for visiting hospitals and care centres without worrying about her life.

Last year, she had donned a nurse's uniform to boost the morale of health workers and other COVID-19 worriers.

Meanwhile, nine entities have responded to the BMC's global tender for supply of 1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses and their documents are under scrutiny.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)