MP: Row over MP minister’s ‘army of beggars’ remark escalates, Congress stages statewide protest, mantri sticks to his stand
The row over the recent remark by Madhya Pradesh rural development minister Prallhad Patel, calling the beneficiaries of the government welfare schemes as ‘beggars’, on Thursday escalated with the Opposition Congress staging statewide stir to protest against his statement.
Bhopal: The row over the recent remark by Madhya Pradesh rural development minister Prallhad Patel, calling the beneficiaries of the government welfare schemes as ‘beggars’, on Thursday escalated with the Opposition Congress staging statewide stir to protest against his statement.
The Congress held rallies and burnt effigies of the minister at all the block and district headquarters in the state in protest against the ‘portrayal of beneficiaries of government welfare schemes as beggars.’
The party demanded an apology from the minister for making such remarks against the people.
The Congress workers clashed with police while staging protests at Narmadapuram and Datia during the stir, reports reaching here said.
The clash occurred when the police tried to snatch away the burning effigies from the Congress activists, a senior party functionary said.
In a bid to keep the issue burning, the farmers’ wing of the state party announced that it would stage demonstration here on March ten, coinciding with the commencement of the budget session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, to protest against the minister’s remarks.
AICC general secretary in-charge of the affairs of Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress Harish Choudhury and state party president Jitu Patwari would lead the stir here on March ten.
In a related development, Mr Patel on Thursday stuck to his stand on the issue, saying that he stood by his remarks and would not apologize for it since he did not consider he had done anything wrong.
Mr Patel reiterated that he sought to instill pride in the society by exhorting them not to beg before the government and there was nothing wrong in waking up the society.
The minister while addressing his community (Lodhi) people at Suthalia in Rajgarh district in Madhya Pradesh on March ten had remarked that people garland a leader and then rain him with various demands like ‘army of beggars’ when he visits their areas.
Such practice was not good for society, he had said.