Days after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was declared dead on social media, messages of demise of former Chief…
Former Chief election Commissioner of India TN Seshan (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Days after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was declared dead on social media, messages of demise of former Chief Election Commissioner of India, TN Seshan, started making rounds on Monday.
Condolence messages on TN Seshan’s death began appearing on social media, even as it was his wife, not him, who had passed away.
His wife, Jayalakshmi Seshan, passed away on 31 March.
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People took to Twitter to debunk TN Seshan’s death rumours circulating on social media.
#TNSESHAN is well. His wife passed away yesterday. After seeing the news posted in the social media I rushed his house in Mylapore just 20 minutes back and talked to him. Unfortunately I had to console him on his wife’s death yesterday pic.twitter.com/90LaROTd2M
— V Narayanan-Americai (@americai) April 1, 2018
Mrs Jayalakshmi Seshan, wife of Shri TN Seshan, Ex Chief Election Commissioner passed away yesterday.
Om Shanti! pic.twitter.com/LAwykGh490— Raghunath AS (@asraghunath) April 1, 2018
Who is TN Seshan?
The Ramon Magsaysay awardee was known for his firebrand approach in re-branding the electoral process in India.
He was the 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India (1990–96), who reformed elections by largely ending its malpractices in the country and redefined the status and visibility of the Election Commission of India.
His name name became synonymous with transparency and efficiency and he was widely considered as the first CEC to conduct cleanest elections in India.
An Indian Administrative Service officer, he earlier served as the 18th Cabinet Secretary of India in 1989.
Atal death rumour
On 29 March, rumours of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death began circulating on WhatsApp . The messages turned out to be fake like many others that circulate like wildfire.
Vajpayee, who was the Prime Minister of India for three terms, is 93 and has been unwell ever since a stroke he suffered in 2009 which affected his speech.
Honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 2015, Vajpayee remains confined to a wheelchair. He also reportedly suffers from dementia and diabetes.
The 10-time Lok Sabha MP was last seen on TV when former president Pranab Mukherjee went to his home to confer India’s highest civilian honour on him.
The BJP stalwart is one of the few politicians who command respect from even the staunchest critics of the saffron party.
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