Sushma Swaraj’s Twitter faux pas: The books Mahasweta Devi didn’t write

External Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj committed a Twitter faux pas on Thursday, when she tweeted condoling the death of social activist and author Mahasweta Devi.

The Minister put out the following two tweets:

While Swaraj said that the writings had left a “lasting impression” on her life, what she did not realise is that ‘PrathamPratishruti’ and ‘Bakul Katha’ – the two books she credited to Mahasweta Devi – were not authored by her at all! Ashapurna Devi, a prominent Bengali novelist, who passed away in 1995, in fact, authored both the books.

Soon, Twitter users pointed out the error.

Realising the mistake, the minister soon deleted the second tweet, while the first tweet continues to be on her Twitter timeline. So far, the minister has issued no clarification or apology. Earlier this week, another government Twitter handle, StartUpIndia, faced flak when it retweeted a post advocating physical violence towards journalists. Later, the handle had tweeted an apology.

Certainly, this government needs better social media managers.