Ahmedabad: A communication blunder unfolded on Wednesday after the official Twitter account of Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called the CM following the Gambhira Bridge collapse in Vadodara district. The tweet stated that PM Modi had returned from his foreign tour and immediately sought complete details about the tragedy, expressed condolences to the victims’ families, and inquired about the treatment of the injured.

However, the tweet was soon deleted in light of the fact that PM Modi was still on his official visit abroad and had, in fact, reached Namibia on the last leg of his five-nation foreign tour this morning.

The now-deleted tweet had read, “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke with me over the phone immediately upon returning to New Delhi from his foreign visit. He took full details about the Gambhira Bridge tragedy that connects Anand and Vadodara and expressed condolences for the lives lost. He also inquired about the treatment being provided to the injured and reviewed the ongoing rescue and relief operations undertaken by the state government.”

The tweet was even circulated to the media as an official communication but was later removed after people began pointing out that the PM was still on his foreign tour.

Later, after a few minutes, another tweet was posted, which said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his foreign visit, held a telephonic conversation with me to obtain complete details about the accident that occurred at the Gambhira Bridge connecting Anand and Vadodara and expressed condolences for the deceased who lost their lives in this accident. He expressed concern for the treatment of those injured in this accident and also obtained information regarding the treatment arrangements. The Prime Minister also gathered details about the rescue and relief operations undertaken by the state government.”

માનનીય વડાપ્રધાન શ્રી @NarendraModi એ તેમના વિદેશ પ્રવાસ દરમિયાન મારી સાથે ટેલિફોનિક વાતચીત કરીને આણંદ-વડોદરાને જોડતા ગંભીરા બ્રિજની થયેલી દુર્ઘટના અંગે સંપૂર્ણ વિગતો મેળવીને આ દુર્ઘટનામાં જાન ગુમાવનારા મૃતકો પ્રત્યે સંવેદના વ્યક્ત કરી હતી.

તેમણે આ દુર્ઘટનામાં જે લોકો ઈજા…

— Bhupendra Patel (@Bhupendrapbjp) July 9, 2025

The incident has raised serious questions about internal coordination and the communication goof-up, particularly during a major tragedy that has claimed at least nine lives and disrupted regional connectivity between Central Gujarat and Saurashtra.

Even before this communication blunder, the collapse of the bridge was already being seen as a major embarrassment for the state government, as the bridge was maintained by the state Roads and Buildings Department. The Roads and Buildings portfolio is held by the Chief Minister himself. Notably, the Chief Minister had just last week chaired a high-level meeting of the department. During the meeting, he had ordered the repair of damaged highways, causeways, bridges, and roads—including those in rural areas—on a war footing and instructed officials not to wait for the rains to stop. However, the collapse of the Gambhira Bridge in Padra, Vadodara, has raised serious questions as to why no preventive action was taken in this case. DeshGujarat