Priyanka slams PM Modi over 'suicide note' joke

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a joke made by him involving a suicide note, saying the PM and those laughing heartily at his joke ought to educate themselves better rather than "ridicule" mental health issues in an "insensitive" manner.

Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at a media channel conclave on Wednesday, narrated a joke about how a professor reading a suicide note by his daughter remarked how she had got a spelling wrong despite his efforts for so many years.

The joke was made by the prime minister while remarking that the editor-in-chief of the channel had started speaking well in Hindi.

Tagging the video of Modi's joke at the conclave, Priyanka Gandhi in a tweet said, "Depression and suicide, especially among the youth IS NOT a laughing matter. According to NCRB data, 164033 Indians committed suicide in 2021. Of which a huge percentage were below the age of 30. This is a tragedy not a joke."

"The Prime Minister and those laughing heartily at his joke ought to educate themselves better and create awareness rather than ridicule mental health issues in this insensitive, morbid manner," the Congress general secretary said on Twitter and tagged PM Modi and 'The Live Love Laugh Foundation' that deals with mental health issues.