Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s birthday message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 was meant to be a routine greeting, but one misplaced word quickly became the focus of attention on X.
Tharoor wished PM Modi on his 76th birthday, offering warm greetings and good wishes along with a message about the Prime Minister’s continued public service. However, instead of writing “on his 76th birthday”, Tharoor wrote “in his 76th birthday”.
“Warm greetings to Prime Minister @narendramodi in his 76th birthday. Wishing him a very happy day and a healthy and fulfilling year ahead. My best wishes to him on this occasion for continued public service to our beloved nation,” Tharoor wrote.
The use of “in” instead of “on” turned what appeared to be a simple
preposition slip into the most noticeable part of the birthday message.
X users spot the mistake
The wording did not go unnoticed by users on X, who quickly pointed out the unusual phrasing.
One user noted that there was a distinction between a grammatical error and a typo. Another suggested that the mistake could have happened because the letters “I” and “O” are next to each other on a keyboard.
🧐🧐- Shashi ji made a grammar mistake !!! even if it is fat finger !!! pic.twitter.com/gGq1qjBC4K
— Laniakea (@lineakea007) September 17, 2026
Other users simply joked about Tharoor making a grammar mistake, something they considered surprising given his reputation for his command of English.
The comments turned the otherwise routine birthday message into a light-hearted social media exchange.
😱🧐is it Shashi ji…… grammatical mistake
Now I can believe that no one is perfect in this world….🌎@ShashiTharoor— Arya Singh (@AryaSingh1203) September 18, 2026
Tharoor acknowledges the slip
Rather than ignore the comments, Tharoor responded to one user on Friday and acknowledged that he had used the wrong preposition.
“Yea ‘on’ his birthday became ‘in’. This happens all the time, alas,” he wrote.
His response added another layer to the social media exchange, with the Congress MP directly addressing the mistake that had drawn attention to his post.
Tharoor is widely known for his command of English and his often elaborate vocabulary. That made the simple wording error particularly noticeable to social media users. This time, however, it was not one of Tharoor’s unusual or elaborate words that attracted attention. It was simply the use of “in” instead of “on” in a birthday greeting for PM Modi.
