Oops! Modi model speech goes international

Thimpu, Jun 16: Oops he did it again! Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is notorious in his country for goof-ups in public speeches, has now exhibited his slip-up skills in Bhutan Parliament too.

Otherwise known for his mocking skills, the newly elected PM of world 's largest democracy made a funny slip and invited the wrath of Twitteratis.

During his address in Bhutan Parliament Modi said Nepal ' instead of Bhutan ' while hailing the country 's royal family.

Modi is on a 2-day official visit to Bhutan in a bid to strengthen bilateral relations and improve trade between the two countries.

Here are few old and interesting goof-ups of Narendra Modi:

"Mohanlal Karamchand Gandhi" (Dudu, November 2013)

Imagine the horror when NaMo, while exhorting the audience to fulfill Gandhi's dying wish, referred to him as MohanLAL Karamchand Gandhi instead of MohanDAS Karamchand Gandhi!

Confusing Shyamaji Krishna Verma with Shyama Prasad Mookerjee (Kheda, November 2013)

Another memorable gaffe that NaMo made was confusing Shyamaji Krishna Verma, the revolutionary freedom fighter, with Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, an Indian politician. When he boasted about bringing the former's remains back to India in 2003, he accidentally let slip it was Mookerjee's remains. No wonder people poked fun at him for changing India's history as per his will!

"Takshashila is in Bihar" (Patna, October 2013)

Trying to woo the Bihar voters during a public speech in Patna Modi praised Takshashila as the learning hub in ancient India. Geographically, Takshashila is in Pakistan.

“Rupee was equivalent to a US dollar during Independence” (Ahmedabad, July 2013)

Trying to squarely lay the blame of inflation on the UPA government, NaMo either has the habit of exaggeration or ignorance about certain important facts. Last year in Ahmedabad, he claimed how the Indian rupee was equivalent to a US dollar at the time of Indian independence. This is not the case - as one Indian rupee was worth 30 cents around that time.

"Dalits are like mentally retarded children" (Ahmedabad, April 2010)

Modi manifested complete lack of sensibility when he compared Dalits in this fashion during his book launch four years back. He said that we should treat Dalits the same way we treat mentally retarded children.

"Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel proposed reservations for women in the Ahmedabad Municipality in 1919" (Ahmedabad, October 2013)

Another instance when Narendra Modi got historical facts completely wrong was during the inauguration of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial Museum last year. Given that he was harking back to the Iron Man of India a lot during state assembly elections, he should have had his facts clear. Sardar Patel proposed reservations for women not in 1919, but in 1926.

"Congress devalued India's First War of Independence" (Meerut, February 2014)

Seeing that Congress was formed in 1885, and the First War of Independence occurred nearly three decades before in 1857 - Congress had absolutely no say in that, whatsoever. NaMo has his way of trying to point out Congress' faults in each place where he campaigns for polls. And since Meerut was where the historical uprising first started, he tried to show them in the bad light once again, albeit with completely fudged historical notions.

"Prime Minister's August 15 speech is delivered from Lal Darwaza" (Bangalore, November 2013)

Another oops moment for BJP occurred when NaMo mistook Lal Qila, where the Prime Minister of India gives his Independence Day speech from, with Lal Darwaza - another historical structure located in the same area of Old Delhi. This happened in Bangalore last year, just a few days after the Shyamaji Krishna Verma gaffe.

"26 chief ministers in Maharashtra since 1960" (Mumbai, December 2013)

When he was in Mumbai last year, Modi said that there have been 26 Chief Ministers in Maharashtra since 1960. Technically it was just 17 individuals who were elected as Chief Minister 26 times.

"Major Somnath Sharma awarded the Mahavir Chakra, Brigadier Rajinder Singh decorated with the Param Vir Chakra" (Jammu, December 2013)

When in Jammu and Kashmir, Narendra Modi tried to inject the so called nationalist spirit in his famous 'Lalkaar Rally' last year. He took the names of some brave soldiers who have fought for their nation from this northern frontier of India - including Major Somnath Sharma and Brigadier Rajinder Singh. Everything was cool and patriotic till NaMo messed up the bravery awards given to the duo. In reality, the former got the Param Vir Chakra and the latter got the Mahavir Chakra.

And then, again, there were incidents which were supposedly very embarrassing - for instance the speech in Patna where he said that when we recall the Gupta dynasty we think about the achievements of Chandragupta. Nitish Kumar, and then many Modi critics laughed at him for confusing Chandragupta Maurya with the Gupta Dynasty - whereas he wasn't talking about Maurya at all! In the same speech, when he was quoting lines from a poem which lauded how Alexander's army was defeated by Biharis - people thought he was confused because the Greek ruler never crossed the Ganges. Nonetheless, the mistakes that he genuinely made certainly are blots that will not go away so easily.