Former union minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday deleted a post on social media platform X that said that his 18-year-long stint in public service has come to an end.

The BJP leader, in a new post, said that what he meant to say was that his 18-year-long stint as a Member of Parliament and three years as a Minister of State has come to an end.

Chandrasekhar, who was the Minister of State for Information Technology, Electronics, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Jal Shakti in the last Modi government, lost to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat after a neck-and-neck fight in the 2024 general elections.

An initial post on his handle on social media platform X said, "Today curtains down on my 18-year stint in public service, of which three years I had the privilege to serve with PM @narendramodi ji's TeamModi2.0.

"I certainly didn't intend to end my 18 years of public service as a candidate who lost an election, but that's how it's turned out." The post also stated that Chandrasekhar extends his thanks to everyone he met and those who supported him, especially the karyakartas and leaders who "inspired and energised" him.

"Thanks also to my colleagues in the government over the last three years. As a @BJP4India karyakarta, I will continue to support and work in the party," it said.

Shortly thereafter, Chandrasekhar deleted the first post and issued a new one saying that the earlier one was by an intern and it "created some confusion among a section of people about my future political work".

"Today marks the end of my 18 years long stint as a MP and my three years as Minister of State in the Council of Ministers under Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji.

"A tweet - tweeted by a new young intern in my team - thanking everyone for their inspiration and support during these 18 years of public service as MP, has created some confusion among a section of people about my future political work," the new post on X said.

It further said that to avoid any further complexities on this, the earlier tweet stands deleted.

"My work and commitment to taking India forward and Thiruvananthapuram, as a karyakarta of BJP remains as relentless as before. Thank you all who replied/msgd/called," the new post said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.