Posting a picture on social media without verifying its authenticity landed tech-savvy N. Chandrababu Naidu in an embarrassment as the trolls forced him to delete his tweet.

The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister on Aug 8 tagged two pictures of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers along with his tweet. One picture shows ASHA workers giving milk bath to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy while in the second picture, they were seen holding a ‘mock funeral’ of the government to lodge their protest.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief commented in Telugu that this is what happens when one fails to keep his word. He was referring to Jagan Reddy’s promise to hike salaries of ASHA workers from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000.

However, the photograph of the protest turned out to be of 2015 and that too from neighbouring Telangana state.

Netizens, mostly followers of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), began trolling him for posting a fake photo. The leader of opposition deleted the tweet on Saturday.

However, the YSRCP slammed Naidu for what it calls spreading canard against the government. YSRCP spokesman Ambati Rambabu said Naidu’s tweet on ASHA workers was juxtaposed with two different contexts and timelines.

He said Naidu’s comment was uncalled for as the government already enhanced the salaries of ASHA workers.

The YSRCP also lashed out at Naidu for commenting that people rejected the TDP, which was a milch cow for them. Rambabu said the overwhelming mandate for YSRCP proved whether TDP government was milch cow or a leech that suck people’s blood.