Vaishnaw Tells Zuckerberg ‘Modi Govt Didn’t Lose Elections’
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (Image credit X @ashwinivaishnaw)
Meta Chief Claims Incumbent Govts Lost Polls Globally Due to Covid-19
By Raisina Correspondent
New Delhi, January 13: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw posted messages on podcast and Facebook to accuse Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg of spreading misinformation. Vaishnaw argued against claims of Zuckerberg that the “incumbent Indian government like many lost elections due to the consequences of the Covid-19”.
Zuckerberg joined the Joe Rogan podcast after Meta removed the fact-checking ecosystem in his social media group. He cited India as an example while discussing the dissatisfaction among the citizens across the world with their governments’ handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zuckerberg further suggested that, following the pandemic, most incumbent governments, including India, lost in the subsequent elections. “I kind of think that, reaction on covid probably caused the breakdown in trust in lot of governments around the world. The year 2024 was the big election year around the world and a lot of countries like India and ton of countries that had elections and incumbents basically lost every single one,” Zuckerberg was quoted having told the popular American podcaster.
Zuckerberg is seen warming up to the US President-elect Donald Trump. His Facebook had previously banned Trump.
“There is some sort of global phenomena where the it was inflation because of the economic policies to deal with covid or just how the governments dealt with covid, seems to have this effect that’s global not just the US, but like a very broad decrease in trust atleast in the set incumbents and maybe in sort of these democratic institutions overall,” added Zuckerberg in the podcast.
Joe Rogan is among the top 10 popular podcasters of the US. Trump had also appeared in his podcast during the election campaign for the presidential elections in the US.
Vaishnaw posted messages on the podcast, as well as the Facebook page of the Meta chief. In a social media post, Vaishnaw said that the Narendra Modi-led government won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“India, which is the largest democracy in the world, saw a record turnout of more than 640 million voters in the 2024 general elections. These elections resulted in the victory of NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a straight third term,” added the minister, who also hold the portfolio of the Railways.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the majority in the lower House of parliament in the 2024 general elections. The Modi-led BJP enjoyed majority of own in the Lok Sabha for the first two terms. The BJP-led NDA government is now dependent on allies such as the JD (U) and the TDP for a majority in the lower House of parliament.
Vaishnaw gave a detailed accounts of the Modi-led government taking steps to deal with hardships in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. He listed out measures such as “free foodgrains to over 800 million citizens; 2.2 billion free vaccine doses; financial assistance to over 110 million farmers; aid extended by India to nations in need, embodying the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family)’; and the robust post-pandemic recovery due to strategic investments.”
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