Oops, they did it again: Here are 2018’s most memorable gaffes made by Indian politicians

Politics is India is not boring. It is packed with pompous statements, lots of action and really interesting characters. Recipe for a full-blown Bollywood flick (talk about cliches). But, this year, it is time to move beyond freudian slips, scandalous remarks and attempts to alter history by our politicians. In 2018, some our ministers and lawmakers took it upon themselves to directly challenge science—yes, believe us someone did.

Here is a rundown of the six biggest political gaffes of 2018, number 6 is bound to leave you spellbound (sarcasm intended).

1. “Would you take a used sanitary napkin to a friend’s place?”
India’s textile minister, Smriti Irani while expressing her ‘personal’ opinion on Supreme Court’s judgment on allowing the entry of women of all ages into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple that bars women of menstruating age to enter the premises, asked, ‘Would you like to take a used sanitary napkin, steeped in menstrual blood, and walk into a friend’s home? You would not.’ She later took to twitter to clarify her comment by citing Zoroastrian traditions.

Since many people are talking about my comments — let me comment on my comment.

As a practising Hindu married to a practising Zoroastrian I am not allowed to enter a fire temple to pray.

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) October 23, 2018 ]]>

2. ‘Mohanlal’ Karamchand Gandhi? Errr..not really

In April 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trolled for getting Mahatma Gandhi’s name wrong - not for the first, but the third time. This time it happened while the prime minister was addressing a gathering in Bihar’s Champaran district. PM Modi made a similar slip while addressing a political rally in 2013. Mahatma Gandhi’s full name is — Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, however PM Modi accidently addressed him as as “Mohanlal” Karamchand Gandhi.

“Why run after politicians for job? Graduates should get cows and milk them”—said one Indian chief minister

The controversial Chief Minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb has now been crowned as the king of gaffes in India. He seems to have been a serial offender and was even reprimanded by his party’s senior leadership for a series of brazen statements. In a bizzare comment, he suggested that graduates in India should not run after ministers and political parties to get a job rather they should get cows and milk it to earn one million in 10 years.

‘Many trips to bar. Oops, abroad’: Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi

The president of Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi was in an embarrassing situation while addressing lawmakers in the Parliament. What he aimed was for a snarky remark against his arch-political rival Prime Minister Modi. However, ended up being the butt of several jokes. During his speech in the lower house of the Parliament in July 2018, he made a faux pas by saying “the Prime Minister took many trips to BAR. Reacting to some smirks and giggles - he immediately corrected himself and said “I mean abroad…” He mixed up the Hindi word ‘bahar’, which means outside, to the english word bar - where one generally goes to loosen up and have a good time. While Gandhi promptly clarified the whole situation made several politicians including the prime minister, who burst into laughter. A light Parliamentary moment, indeed!

Biplab did it again! Revisiting historical facts about Rabindranath Tagore

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb— who we earlier dubbed as the ‘king of bloopers’ once said that nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore rejected the Nobel Prize as a mark of protest against the British Empire. In fact, Tagore never declined the award that he received in 1913 for his work ‘Gitanjali.’ He further added, Tagore was awarded with “Biswosrestho” (world’s best) award for Gitanjali.

‘Ducks raise oxygen level in water bodies’ - No prizes for guessing who said that!

In another major gaffe, the Tripura chief minister claimed that ducks can raise oxygen levels when they swim in water bodies. Yes, yes this is a scientific fact, but it still became news because of the bizarre comment. He said, “When ducks swim in water, oxygen level automatically increases in the waterbody. It (oxygen) gets recycled. Fish in the water will get more oxygen. They also benefit from bird droppings. Thus, pisciculture will benefit and fishes will grow faster, that too in a completely organic way,” reported NDTV.