ANI mistakes Periyar for Modi, regrets its error 17 hours later

Navaratri celebrations are in full swing across India. Down south, it includes a golu, which is steps displaying dolls and figurines – the more creative, the better.

Yesterday, everyone’s favourite news agency tweeted about a display in Madurai that featured bommais, or dolls, of “leaders like PM Narendra Modi and former president APJ Abdul Kalam”.

Sadly for ANI, that wasn’t Modi but politician, iconoclast and activist EV Ramasamy, better known as Periyar.

ANI was alerted to this new information approximately 17 hours later.

Alert Twitter users also asked why ANI ignored the fact that “Modi” was perched alongside Ambedkar, Annadurai and Indira Gandhi, but that question probably answers itself.

But this is par for the course for ANI, which once interviewed its own employee for a “feel good” story about demonetisation, and which promptly took down a video of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath engaging in unparliamentary language. Read Newslaundry’s report on what happened.