Rane commits gaffe, posts photo of actor instead of India's first woman doctor for homage to latter

Anandi Joshi was the first woman from the erstwhile Bombay presidency of India to study and graduate with a two-year degree in western medicine in the United States.

Mumbai: Union minister Narayan Rane committed a faux pas on social media as he posted the photo of an actor who portrayed the role of Anandi Joshi, considered the first Indian woman doctor of western medicine, instead of sharing the latter's image on her death anniversary.

Joshi's death anniversary was observed on February 26. She was the first woman from the erstwhile Bombay presidency of India to study and graduate with a two-year degree in western medicine in the United States. She was born at Kalyan, now in Thane district, in 1865, and died in 1887.

Rane, who is Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, on Monday posted an image on a social media platform to offer respects to Joshi on her death anniversary. However, instead of sharing Dr Joshi's photo, he posted a photo of actor Bhagyashree Milind, who played the role of Dr Joshi in her 2019 Marathi biopic 'Anandi Gopal'.

As Rane's post went viral, several netizens ridiculed and criticised him for his gaffe. The minister deleted the post almost 12 hours later.