Business magnate and ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala met prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in New Delhi. PM Modi had posted a photograph of the three on Twitter saying that he was ‘Delighted to meet the one and only Rakesh Jhunjhunwala…lively, insightful and very bullish on India.’
However, another photograph of the meeting had emerged on social media which attracted criticism from some Congress workers and trolls on Twitter. In this photo, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was sitting on a chair behind a table, while PM Modi and Rekha Jhunjhunwala were standing in front of him. While supporters of Modi praised him for his humility, critics slammed the PM for ‘bowing down in front of a broker’. Congress leaders and workers, anti-BJP ‘journalists’ and ordinary trolls joined this attack on PM Modi.
Youth Congress president Srinivas BV posted the image inviting his followers on Twitter to caption the same.
Later he posted another tweet.
Congress IT cell worker Vinay Kumar Dokania referred to Jhunjhunwala as the ‘owner’ of PM Modi.
Congress worker Srivatsa was more direct, comparing Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, saying that while Gandhi takes questions from the press, Modi takes questions from Billionaires.
Another Congress supporter said that PM was listening to the businessman attentively because ‘money speaks’.
Journalist Salil Tripathi tweeted that ‘Loyalty is humility before the real crown,’ implying that Jhunjhunwala holds the real power.
Another journalist cum troll Swati Chaturvedi wondered if any billionaire sit on the Indian PM’s chair.
Similar views were expressed by many saying that the PM was allowing Jhunjhunwala to sit while he was standing because of the wealth of Jhunjhunwala.
While it seems odd that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was seen sitting while the PM of the country was standing, it has nothing to do with his wealth. He was forced to remain seated because he is suffering from health issues and he moves around by using a wheelchair.
The investor met the finance minister today, and in the photographs of the same, it can be clearly seen that he was sitting in a wheelchair while he met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi
The investor met the finance minister today, and in the photographs of the same, it can be clearly seen that he was sitting in a wheelchair while he met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi today.
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This is because, the investor, who has announced that he will be entering the aviation sector with low-budget airline ‘Akasa Air’, was bed-ridden for 18 months because of his health complications. He had very high diabetes, which had affected his feet, probably a case of diabetic neuropathy. He was also infected with Covid-19, complicating his health situation.
If we observe the photo of Jhunjhunwala meeting Nirmala Sitharaman carefully, we can see that he was wearing some special shoes, not formal shoes other men in the meeting were wearing. He must be wearing these larger shoes due to his feet complications.
Although he recovered a couple of months ago, he is still wheelchair-bound, as his legs are still weak. A video posted in August this year showed him dancing in his wheelchair in an event, confirming his health status.
When people pointed this out to the trolls and Congress workers and supporters who were slamming the PM for ‘disrespecting his position’, they retorted by showing the image posted by the PM himself, where Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was seen standing with his wife and PM Modi. However, this photo does not mean that he is not wheelchair bound. It is possible that he just stood up for a moment to pose for the photo. Other photographs and videos clearly show that he has difficulty in standing, and that’s why he uses a wheelchair.