Mumbai: In a shameful turn of events, a TV news anchor at India Today mistakenly read out a tweet from a parody account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on live television. This mishap occurred as global leaders, including PM Modi, extended their congratulations to Republican candidate Donald Trump for his historic win in the US Presidential Elections.

In the excitement to report PM Modi’s message to Trump, the anchor read a tweet from a parody X (formerly Twitter) account, thinking it was an official statement. The post claimed that Modi planned a call with Trump to discuss various issues, including violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, Khalistani terrorism allegedly enabled by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the war in Ukraine.

The video clip quickly went viral online, leaving netizens amused. The parody account had a similar profile picture to PM Modi’s verified account but included the word "Parody" in brackets. While reading the post, the anchor mistakenly described it as a strong statement by Modi, referencing recent attacks against Hindus and temples by Khalistani extremists.

Realising the error, the anchor immediately corrected himself, saying, "I'm sorry, I've got it wrong," and went on to read the genuine congratulatory message from Modi's official account, which has over 103 million followers.

The incident sparked mixed reactions online. Some users sympathised with the anchor, noting that the parody account could easily deceive anyone at first glance. However, others emphasised the need for proper verification before broadcasting to a large audience.

The situation also drew comments from Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who criticised the news channel, referring to a recent tweet from one of its journalists about alleged biases in American election coverage. "Parody account tweet makes it to headlines of newstainment channel report. Just a few hours ago, was reading tweets giving lessons to American news channels about bias, fake narrative, and election coverage," she tweeted.

In a humorous twist, a parody account of Donald Trump also responded to the Modi parody account, keeping the spirit of satire alive on the platform.

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Kolkata, Nov 6: Two FIRs have been lodged against actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty for allegedly making provocative statements during a BJP event in Salt Lake area near Kolkata last month, police said on Wednesday.

The complaints pertain to Chakraborty's speech on October 27 at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake, during a BJP programme attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Kolkata to launch the party's West Bengal membership drive.

The first FIR was filed at the Bidhannagar South police station based on a complaint by an individual, while the second was lodged at Bowbazar police station.

"We have started an investigation into the case," a senior officer of Bidhannagar police said.

Shah was also present at the programme, which was organised to kick off the West Bengal leg of the BJP's membership drive. Shah had also felicitated Chakraborty for being honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year.

Although Chakraborty was unavailable for comment, BJP state president and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar described the FIRs a result of "vendetta politics.".

Majumdar alleged that the TMC government "has once again used the police to unfairly target well-known actor and senior BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty".

He accused the chief minister of employing such tactics "to serve political interests" and claimed that the state government's actions were part of an ongoing attempt to discredit political opponents.

"There is nothing provocative in his speech. These are nothing but attempts to intimidate him by using police as a political tool," he said.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dubbed the BJP's allegations as baseless.

"The allegations of political vendetta are baseless. He shouldn't have made such provocative remarks. The law will take its own course," he said.

Chakraborty, who received India's highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, earlier this year, had asserted on October 27 that the 'masnad' (throne) of West Bengal would belong to the BJP after the 2026 assembly elections, promising to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal.

While speaking at the programme, Chakraborty, a BJP leader, said, "In 2026, the 'masnad' will be ours, and we will do everything to achieve the goal."

In an apparent reference to TMC MLA Humayun Kabir's communal remarks aimed at BJP workers during the Lok Sabha elections, Chakraborty had allegedly made provocative remarks.

Chakraborty cautioned that no one should attempt to intimidate saffron party voters into abstaining from voting in the next assembly elections.

He called upon the booth-level workers of his party to resist any such attempts.