GUWAHATI: While the photo of an ailing yesteryear actor Vinod Khanna doing rounds in social media has sparked a debate on privacy issues, the BJP in Meghalaya on Saturday observed a two-minute silence to pay respect to the “departed soul of Vinod Khanna”. Khanna is a former BJP Lok Sabha member from Gurdaspur in Punjab.
At a meeting at the party office in Shillong, party general secretary David Kharsati said, “Before we start our programme, we will hold two-minute silence to pay respect to the departed soul of Vinod Khanna”.
The announcement caused a flutter within the party in no time, leaving Kharsati red-faced. Later, he issued a statement to the media, saying, “We wrongly observed two-minute silence and we are extremely sorry about it. We wish Khanna a long life.”
“Two of our members watched TV yesterday (Friday) and told us that it was like that (the actor is no more). They said since he is a former MP of our party, we should pay our respects and we did so without verifying it. We have issued a statement apologising for the grave mistake that we made. Please cooperate,” he added.
A picture of the actor at a Mumbai hospital, looking frail and scrawny, that went viral in social media had sparked off a rumour about his death. A hospital source said that 70-year-old Khanna had been admitted for severe dehydration.