MP: 'Words Misrepresented,' Minister Prahlad Patel Clarifies His 'Beggar' Remarks

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Prahlad Patel said on Friday that his ‘beggar statement’ had been misrepresented.

Patel’s remark at a function held to unveil the statue Avantika Bai at Suthalia, Rajgarh, stirred up a hornet’s nest in the state. The minister made the statement in an interaction with Free Press on Friday.

According to Patel, several things are said through indications and proverbs in India.

“So, saying Mangne walon ke sthan par denewale bano (instead of a taker, you be a giver) is no wrong,” Patel said.

Patel said he had neither called the public beggars nor used any such word for those who submitted applications.

He said it was clear in the statement that he had appealed to the people of his community to become self-reliant.

The critics of the statement should have sifted through the blueprint of the event, the minister said.

The event held by the Nagar Panchayat was going on the other side of the road, and that it was for the people of his community, Patel further said.

Patel further said that the leaders of the BJP and those of the Congress were on the stage when he made the remark, and that it was his duty to motivate the people of his community as he had been doing for all these years.

Because the Congress is in opposition, its duty is to criticise the ruling party, but their criticism of the government policies is always welcome, he said.

Misinterpretation of a word by the Congress indicates that they have fallen short of ideas, he said.

“Burning my effigies hardly worries me, because my aim is to make people aware, and I am doing it. I just feel pity on the thoughts of certain people,” he said. 

President of the Bahujan Samaj Party Mayawati linked the statement with the beneficiaries, but there was scarcely mention of beneficiaries in the remark, he said.

“I know the depth that each word carries in politics. I have always done politics on roads and in farmlands. Those who know me will appreciate what I actually meant,” Patel said.