Hardeep Singh Puri quotes Goebbels to counter journalist’s ‘fake narrative’ on Central Vista

For your Saturday afternoon entertainment, a union minister seems to be squabbling with a top news anchor on social media. It’s a tale as old as time, involving Twitter, Central Vista and rain.

The first in our cast of characters is Rajdeep Sardesai, genial journalist and anchor with India Today with a propensity to shake a leg on camera.

Last night, Sardesai tweeted photographs of “water logging” at Delhi’s Central Vista. He first tweeted at around 6 pm but then deleted the tweet and reposted it at 8.30 pm with time-stamped photos.

This morning, urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri cryptically tweeted a plethora of photos and videos showing Central Vista in its shiny glory, with nary a puddle in sight.

His photos were taken this morning. Sardesai’s are from last night. We are not sure why anyone would expect the photos to be exactly the same (water can drain away, after all), but why let that get in the way of a good Twitter spat?

Puri also chose to quote Goebbels, head of propaganda for the Nazis: “Goebbels believed that a lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”

At a time when too many media houses choose to toe the government’s line, we will let the irony speak for itself. This is, of course, why you should support independent media – we are answerable to our subscribers, not to governments or corporations. Click here to subscribe to Newslaundry today.

We’ve also reported on the happenings at Central Vista from the beginning. Alpana Kishore, writing for Newslaundry, explains why it’s an “illegitimate monument for deceit”, how it’s built on a scaffolding of trampled laws, and why its legacy cannot survive modern-day scrutiny.