Shiv Sena activist posted controversial tweet, says Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar on Thursday said that a tweet from her Twitter handle, which triggered a controversy over the use of objectionable language, was posted by a Shiv Sena activist in a "fit of anger".

The BJP, however, demanded an apology from the mayor over the tweet.

Talking to reporters here, Pednekar, a Shiv Sena leader, said while she was attending a function in the Bandra-Kurla Complex here on Wednesday, her mobile phone was handed over to a party activist who posted the tweet.

However, when she got her phone back, she immediately deleted the tweet, the mayor said.

A row erupted on Wednesday when a Twitter user posed a question to the mayor about the status of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) global Covid-19 vaccine supply contract on the social media platform.

"Tuzya Bapala" (to your father), replied Pednekar when the Twitter user asked "Contract konala dila??" (to whom contract has been given) while commenting on a Marathi news channel's tweet regarding the BMC's global tender on Covid-19 vaccine supply.

Pednekar later deleted the objectionable tweet, but by that time it had gone viral on social media platforms.

On Thursday, she said the Sena activist posted the tweet in a "fit of anger", but she immediately deleted it after she got her phone back and has also cautioned him against such acts.

"I have learnt a lesson from this that the mobile phone should not be handed over even to a person even if he/she is close to you," Pednekar said.

After the tweet went viral, opposition parties criticised the mayor over the post.

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Thursday demanded an apology from Pednekar over the tweet.

"I request the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Shiv Sena and Mumbai mayor to clarify whether it was really the reaction of mayor herself," he said.

The mayor should tender an apology over her remark, the former BJP MP said.

A three-time corporator from Lower Parel in South Mumbai, Pednekar was elected the 77th mayor of the city in 2019.

She is also one of the spokespersons of the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the Mumbai civic body, which goes to polls in early 2022, since more than two decades.

During the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Pednekar received praise from citizens for visiting hospitals and care centres without worrying about her life.

Last year, she donned a nurse's uniform to boost the morale of health workers and other Covid-19 worriers.