Beti Bachao Gurgaon meet takes hit as Vij, Parineeti fail to make it
The Haryana government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao state-level function in Gurgaon on Tuesday morning ran into rough weather with health minister Anil Vij opting out and brand ambassador and actor Parineeti Chopra tweeting that she had missed her flight due to rain and traffic chaos in Mumbai.
The Haryana government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao state-level function in Gurgaon on Tuesday morning ran into rough weather with health minister Anil Vij opting out and brand ambassador and actor Parineeti Chopra tweeting that she had missed her flight due to rain and traffic chaos in Mumbai.
The much-awaited faceoff between the two natives of Ambala – five-time MLA Vij and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s choice of brand ambassador Parineeti – was finally not to be. Interestingly, both chose the virtual world to declare their inability to attend the much-hyped programme.
Vij tweeted an image of a Hindi newspaper report clipping at 7.45am that said he had neither been informed nor invited to the function at Gurgaon and would be busy attending an official meeting scheduled in Chandigarh. The report quoted him as adding that the function was not in the ambit of the health department.
Parineeti, on her part, sent out a tweet at 10am that read: “Soo much traffic, missed my flight, seeing photos of absolute mayhem in Mumbai!! Just one night of rain can do this?” Khattar had chosen Parineeti to give a fillip to the event, which was to be inaugurated by the chief minister and attended by US ambassador to India Richard Verma.
The tweet that created a buzz
Vij had created a buzz on July 16, the day the Haryana government named Parineeti its brand ambassador, by tweeting, “I don’t have any information of anybody appointed brand ambassador of my department for Beti Bachao programme.” Though the women and child development department is the nodal department for the programme, the health department too is involved in the health of mother and girl child.
Vij’s tweet exposed the difference of opinion among ministries on the strategy for the implementation of the programme kicked off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Panipat on January 21, 2015.
Sources said Vij’s ‘displeasure’ stemmed from the fact that he was not kept in the loop by the women and child development department.