Thiruvananthapuram: As the world mourned the demise of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, media outlets across the world took to churning out stories in tribute to the sports star, so it was but natural for a Malayalam TV anchor to ask the Kerala sports minister a question on his passing away. When it was his turn to answer, state sports minister E P Jayarajan said that Ali was a ‘great sportsman from Kerala’ and lauded him for winning a gold medal.
The senior CPI-M leader was giving an audio interview to a Malayalam news channel when he made the faux pas.
“I just came to know that Muhammad Ali breathed his last in America. He was a great sportsman from Kerala. He brought fame to the state by winning a gold medal," the minister said.
The quick thinking anchor cut the audio of the minister before he could make any more blunders but the minister has already become the target of trolls on social media.
Thank God the anchor cut the call of Min Jayarajan,Otherwise he wud also have announced Rs 50 Lakh compensation & jobs to someone in Kerala
— Tinu Cherian Abraham (@tinucherian) June 4, 2016
Keralites are lucky enough to have Jayarajan not as education minister,histories would have been re-written!! #ജയരാജൻ
— Arjun CM (@arjun_pdm) June 4, 2016
Congress - We have Pappu
— Binu Padmam (@bnutwt) June 4, 2016
AAP - We have Keju
CPIM - We have Jayarajan
#ജയരാജൻ
Some even compared the minister to Donald Trump who is known for making statements without checking his facts.
Sports minister Jayarajan is a Trump card ðŸ™
— SantoshSivanASC. ISC (@santoshsivan) June 4, 2016
