Did Modi use digital pics, email in ’80s? Trolls erupt

New Delhi: Even before the clouds over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “cloud theory” on the Balakot airstrikes passed, another video has gone viral in which he has apparently claimed he was using a digital camera and email since the late 1980s.

In a video clip that is circulating wildly across the social media, Mr Modi says he had used a digital camera in 1987-88 to click a colour photo of L.K. Advani, adding that he had used email at the time to send the photo to New Delhi. The fact, however, is that the world’s first digital camera had been sold by Nikon in 1987, that commercial emails were introduced only in 1990-95, and email facilities were not widely available until 1995. The BJP, which pounces on the Prime Minister’s critics for targeting him, somehow maintained a stoic silence over its mascot’s paradoxical claims.

Some people observed that digital cameras would have exorbitantly priced in India in that period and targeted the PM for frequently talking about his reported poverty.

The social media went into a tizzy with over Mr Modi’s claims and the twitterati had a field day. Some tweets said: “More Modi gems. Nothing adds up. Poverty? Yet by own admission digital camera which few people had.” “Modi invented digital camera, email, like gas from the gutter & clouds which could not be penetrated by radars. Ask any bhakt” And “Even Rajiv Gandhi didn’t tell the world about the emails he recd from Shri Modiji” as well as “He currently is using time machine which will be invented after 100yrs.”

The Congress, not willing to let go an opportunity pass, pounced on the PM. The Congress’ social media operations head, Ms Divya Spandana, took the first jibe. She tweeted: “The question is even if he did have an email ID in 1988 when the rest of the world didn’t, who was he sending emails to?”

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted: “@PMOIndia ke paas batwa nahi tha (kyunki paise nahi the!) lekin 1988 mein digital camera aur email tha?” (The Prime Minister had no wallet as didn’t have money, but he had a digital camera and email in 1988). He then added: “All this would be really funny if it weren’t so embarrassing. A PM who’ll literally say ANYTHING that comes to his mind can’t possibly be trusted with our national security.”

Earlier, the PM had left the nation stunned with his “cloud theory”. In an interview to a TV channel, he had said: “The weather suddenly turned bad, there were clouds... heavy rain. There was a doubt about whether we can go in the clouds. During a review (of the Balakot plan), by and large, the opinion of experts was — what if we change the date. I had two issues in mind. One was secrecy... second, I said I am not someone who knows science. I said there is so much cloud and rain. There is a benefit. I have a raw vision, clouds can benefit us too. We can escape the radar. Everyone was confused. Ultimately I said there are clouds... let’s proceed.”

The interview was televised on Saturday ahead of the crucial sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

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