Mallika Dua sends out Covid-19 SOS, gets prompt response from Hardeep Puri; netizens slam 'VIP culture'

Comedian, actor and social media influencer Mallika Dua faced heat from netizens after a Twitter interaction between her and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri went viral on Monday.

Dua, the daughter of journalist Vinod Dua, sent an SOS on Twitter for Covid-19 medicines for her ailing mother, who is reportedly admitted to ICU at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. In a tweet, Mallika Dua tagged Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda to help her arrange for Tocilizumab, one of the medicines being used to treat coronavirus patients.

Hooda responded to the tweet immediately and asked her to share the required details with one of his team members so that they can arrange for the medicine. In the same thread, BJP leader, Civil Aviation Minister, and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri responded to Dua’s plea, saying he has arranged for the injection. He even shared his mobile number to contact him for help.

After a while, Dua tweeted that Tocilizumab had been arranged for her mother and thanked Puri for 'prompt action' on helping her at the time of need.

While the Twitter interaction between Dua, Hooda and Puri has been deleted now, screenshots of the same have gone viral on social media with netizens slamming the minister for taking prompt action to help Dua and not thousands of others, struggling to find medicines for Covid-19.

"I have no problem with any top minister of BJP helping Mallika Dua who abuses BJP 24*7. The problem occurs when these ministers in Power ignore the common citizens of our country and rush to help privileged elite people like Mallika for their validation. This is the difference," a Twitter user said.

Another Twitter user noted how "we live in a country where being rich & poor matters the most."

Many users slammed Puri for helping Dua even as she didn't tag him. Columnist Shefali Vaidya tweeted that the Union minister was “acting like a supplier for one of his buddies, while thousands of other less privileged people are gasping for breath in hospitals”.

Following the outrage, Mallika Dua, known for her critical take on the government, seems to have deleted her Twitter account.