Internet has a field day with Sampla’s ticket denial tweets

Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 24

It is not every day a union minister accuses their own party of cow slaughter — even though only in jest. Moments after the BJP accorded Phagwara MLA Som Parkash ticket from Hoshiarpur, Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla took to Twitter and posted two tweets, terming his ticket denial as ‘gau hatya (cow slaughter) and seeking reasons for not being considered for the ticket. The tweets went viral among eager netizens within minutes who responded with Kalank memes and jibes on ‘chowkidar’ missing from Sampla’s Twitter handle.

While Sampla had earlier prefixed ‘chowkidar’ to his Twitter handle under PM Modi’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, he removed it after the ticket denial.

While some also supported Sampla as a candidate, others termed his ‘gau hatya’ tweet was in bad taste.

Sampla, who has 47,500 followers on Twitter, received 1,433 likes, 508 RTs and 189 replies on the first tweet (on gau hatya) and 2,328 likes, 601 RTs and 534 replies on the second tweet.

He first posted: “Bahut dukh hua Bhajpa ne gau hatya kar di” (I’m very pained, the BJP has committed ‘cow slaughter’). The tweet went viral within minutes.

While the majority of the persons took jibes, there were others who offered support and yet others who termed Sampla’s comparison of himself with a cow uncalled for.

Ramnik Bansal termed Sampla’s comparison of himself with a cow, after being denied the ticket, selfish.

#NYAYForIndia I Shailendra Patil wrote: “Gauji aap Chinta Mat Kijye, Som Parkash Ko Hum Dekh Lenge” (Don’t be worried, we will see Som Parkash). BaBu Pathan wrote: “Kya Hua Sir Apka Bhi Ticket kat Gaya?” (What happened sir, has your ticket been cut too?). Sachin Garg wrote: “Modi Hai To Mumkin Hai”.

Moments later Sampla posted another tweet: “Koi dosh to bata dete? Meri galti kya hai ki – Mujhpe bhrashtachar ka koi ilzaam nahi hai; achran par koi ungli nahi utha sakta; Kshetra main airport banvaya. Rail gariyan chalai. Sadken banvai. Agar yahi dosh hai To main apni aane vali peedhiyon ko samjha dunga ki aisi galtiyan na karein” (You could have at least told me my mistake. What is my mistake – I don’t have any allegation of corruption. No one can point fingers at my character. I got an airport made in the area. Got trains started. Got roads made. If this is my fault, I will tell the coming generations not to repeat such mistakes).

Responding to this, ChowkidarAnil wrote: “Suna hai Airport Ki Halat bahut Kharab Hai. Ek jaan pehchaan vale ki flight miss ho gayi thi Sadak ki buri halat ke karan. Uske baad Ab vo Chandigarh Se hi Flight leta Hai.” (We have heard that the airport is in a bad shape. An acquaintance missed his flight due to the bad condition of the road. Now, he takes flight from Chandigarh only.)

Posting a ‘Kalank’ (film) meme of a veiled, crying Alia Bhatt with ALTAF writes: “Hamse zyada barbaad koi Nahi Hai iss duniya mein” (no one’s been ruined more than me in this world).

Expressing support, Ankur wrote: “Independent lad jao.. hum apke saath hai” (Contest as an Independent, we are with you). Siddharth Pandey wrote: “Aap Apne Twitter handle par chowkidar lagana Bhul Gaye The, Usi galti Ki Saza Hai” (You did not prefix chowkidar on your Twitter handle, that’s your fault). Lakshya wrote: “Aapne Hindu Muslim nahi Kiya Hai Shahyad” (You did not do Hindu Muslim). Maneesh Agarwal wrote: “Apne Modi Ji Ke Tweet RT Kiye?” (Did you RT Tweets by Modi?).

While Sampla is at present in Delhi, his followers have been threatening to resign en masse if the party doesn’t reconsider the Hoshiarpur ticket. However, the party’s senior leadership said Sampla was a veteran and good sense would prevail.

Has 47.5K followers on twitter

Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla, who has 47,500 followers on Twitter, received 1,433 likes, 508 RTs and 189 replies on the first tweet (on ‘gau hatya’) and 2,328 likes, 601 RTs and 534 replies on second tweet.