NEW DELHI: In a bizarre turn of events, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, has courted what will be seen as a controversy, by launching a brand of papad, claiming that it would banish coronavirus.

The brand that he launched is ‘Bhabhiji Papad’. What’s more, he also came up with a video in which he claimed that it can help in developing antibodies required to fight the coronavirus. Obviously, social media users reacted with a sense of shock and disbelief over the minister’s endorsement of a papad brand in this manner during the COVID-19 trying times.

“Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, a papad manufacturer has come up with this product that will boost the formation of antibodies to fight the coronavirus,” the minister said in a video that is going viral on social media.

In the video, the minister is seen holding ‘Bhabhiji Papad’ in his hand and saying that this papad can help produce the antibodies required to counter the coronavirus.

The manufacturer of the papad claimed that its product has a number of ingredients that would boost immunity.

As anticipated, netizens reacted in myriad ways to this bizarre ‘corona curing papad’ while many were left dismayed, one person has demanded suo-motu action against the Union minister for spreading misinformation in these crisis times.

After getting backlash from the section of media, twitter had deleted the tweeted video stating that it had violated the rules.

India's COVID-19 tally crossed more than 12 lakhs cases on Thursday while the death toll mounted to 29,861, according to the Union Health Ministry data.