NEW DELHI:
Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday, in a major gaffe, confused the United Kingdom with the United States of America while commenting on how India tackled the Covid-19 pandemic better than many countries.
"America, which enslaved us for 200 years, which ruled the world, under whose empire it was said the sun didn't set... recorded more than 2.75 lakh deaths due to Covid-19 and is still struggling," said Rawat.
America, which has less population and better health infrastructure than India, "dol gaya, bol gaya" and is now heading towards a lockdown, said the newly-appointed chief minister.
Rawat in an attempt to compare India with the USA—the country that recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths— wrongly used Britain's colonial past to describe the North American country.
Congress leader Randeep Surjewala took a dig at Rawat, while questioning his knowledge of history.
In historical times, Britain, with colonies stretching from South East Asia to the West Indies, had given rise to the saying that the Sun never set on the British empire.
Tirath Singh Rawat, while being right about the 200-year foreign rule and the proverbial 'British sun,' clearly confused UK and US.
In the same speech, Rawat also confused the number of Covid-19 deaths and cases in the US.
He said that the US recorded more than 2.75 lakh Covid-19 deaths and more than 50 lakh cases. As per US media reports, the country has recorded around 2.98 crore (29,808,700) Covid cases and 5.41 lakh (541,493) deaths.
Rawat's latest gaffe comes on the heels of another controversy sparked by his remarks about women wearing ripped jeans.
On Tuesday, Rawat had associated ripped jeans with societal collapse and expressed “shock” at a “mother” who wore frayed denim.
In an attempt to explain his statement, Rawat had later said that he is “not against jeans but just ripped jeans”, adding that while clothing is an individual choice, "people should respect their culture and traditions… We have examples like Rani Laxmi Bai, who fought battles in a sari."