While the rejection of nomination papers of BJP’s candidate S Gurumurthy for the Nilgiris (reserved) constituency came in as a disappointment for party supporters, it put noted columnist, academic and chartered accountant S Gurumurthy in a piquant situation because of a faux pas by a slew of television news channels.
TV channels ran the story along with the photograph of the Chennai-based Gurumurthy because of which he was peppered with calls.
The confusion actually began when the BJP released its list of candidates for the April 24 elections in Tamil Nadu, which included the name of S Gurumurthy for Nilgiris. Many people assumed the columnist had got the ticket, particularly after a news channel carried his picture along with the newsbreak on the namesake.
Even BJP’s 272+ site mistook the Nilgiris candidate as the columnist and put his photograph, triggering a spate of calls from all over the world congratulating or expressing surprise at his candidature. Though BJP 272+ subsequently apologised on twitter and Gurumurthy too denied the news on twitter, the impression apparently was not effectively dispelled.
For, when the namesake’s nomination was rejected, some media channels again did not bother to do the basic verification of identity, causing more misunderstanding.