‘Memorable day,’ says Shashi Tharoor on visit to landslide-hit Wayanad, outrage follows

Tharoor, however, struck a defiant note, saying that a memorable thing is one that is ‘likely to be remembered.'

Shashi Tharoor, who visited landslide-hit Wayanad in his native Kerala state on Saturday, defended his ‘memorable day’ social media post for the visit, saying that a memorable thing is one that is ‘likely to be remembered.'

Shashi Tharoor in Wayanad on Saturday (Image courtesy: Shashi Tharoor/X)

It all began when the Congress leader shared a video from the trip on X (formerly Twitter), and wrote: “Some memories of a memorable day in Wayanad.”

The clip, which has a duration of 68 seconds, shows him unloading relief materials from a truck, followed by visuals of visit to relief camps and landslide-hit locations.

However, many on social media objected to Tharoor using the term ‘memorable’ for a tragic event.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya was among those who lambasted the former Union minister.

“Deaths and disaster are memorable for Shashi Tharoor,” Malviya said on his handle on the microblogging platform

Responding to the criticism, Tharoor, the Lok Sabha member from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram who is known for his English language verbiage, sought to explain the meaning of ‘memorable.’

“For all the trolls: definition of ‘memorable’: Something that is memorable is worth remembering or likely to be remembered, because it is special or unforgettable. That's all I meant,” a post from the Congressman on the matter, read.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Tuesday's landslides, which struck the Meppadi, Mundakkai Town, and Chooralmala villages in Wayanad, crossed 350, and is at 357; of these, as many as 18 bodies were recovered on Saturday.

Additionally, more than 200 people are yet to be traced.

The search and rescue operations will resume on Sunday morning.