Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has apologised for mistakenly sending out a condolence message for the family of the former Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
"Spoke to Sumitra Mahajan ji's son to convey my sincere apologies at last night's misinformation. He was most gracious & understanding. Delighted to hear she is very much better. Expressed my best wishes to her & her family," he tweeted on Friday.
On Thursday night, Tharoor sent out a tweet, offering condolences to the family of Mahajan.
"Saddened to learn of the passing of former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Majahan. I remember many positive interactions with her, including when she and the late Sushma Swaraj asked me to lead a Parliamentary delegation to BRICS in MOSCOW. My condolences to her family and prayers: Om Shanti!" he wrote.
However, the news turned out to be fake and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya clarified that Mahajan is "absolutely fine". "Tai ekdum swasth hai. Bhagwan unhe lambi umar de (She is absolutely fine. May God bless her with a long life)," he Tweeted.
In turn, Tharoor thanked Vijayvargiya for issuing a clarification in this regard.
"Thanks Kailash Vijayvargiya. I have deleted my tweet. I wonder what motivates people to invent and spread such evil news that takes in people. My best wishes for Sumitra ji's health and long life," said Tharoor.
Mahajan herself was shocked when she got to know that news about her death was circulated on social media without any confirmation.
"Media should not publish such news without any confirmation. They should have confirmed with the Indore administration before putting out such news on Twitter," said the former Lok Sabha speaker.
Mahajan, 78, served as the Lok Sabha speaker from 2014 to 2019.
