Pankaj Pachauri's tweet provokes BJP to target Prime Minister's Office

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over a tweet by his media advisor, Pankaj Pachauri, providing wrong information regarding economic development of Gujarat ruled by Narendra Modi.

Pachauri's remark on twitter got him into trouble as the figures given by him on the state's development were varying from those provided by the Central Statistical Office (CSO).

While addressing a news conference in New Delhi on Tuesday, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that PM's aide was also spreading lies like the Congress party, claiming Pachauri would have under no circumstances made such a comment without PM's consent.

"We are saddened that the Prime Minister is also involved in spreading lies like his party members. The statement made today on twitter by his media advisor, Pankaj Pachauri, that Gujarat's development is low was supported by wrong figures," said Prasad.

Pachauri had posted that Gujarat was not in the top ten state economies of the country. He also mentioned that the Gujarat governed by BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Modi, had the slowest growth rate at 9.52% out of 19 states in 2012-2013.

Gujarat, according to the CSO, stands fifth in the economically developed states of the country, only to follow Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Furthermore, Gujarat's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose to 12.69% and not the "claimed" 9.52%.

Following the tweet, enraged Modi supporters demanded an apology from Pachauri for the misinformation.

Meanwhile, Prasad sought apology from PMO for misleading people. "BJP demands that the spurious statistic being used to derail Gujarat development and depict it in poor light, the PMO owes an apology," said Prasad.

However, Pachauri tried to clarify his stance by quoting a statistical website and claiming that he had picked up the data from the site.