Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan Singh stirred controversy after he was caught on camera getting his shoelace tied by a government employee at a yoga day event on Friday 21 June, ANI reported.
After the video surfaced online, he was criticised by netizens for making someone tie his shoelace.
His reaction to the video, citing Lord Ram, did not make things any better for the minister. The minister justified his actions saying,
“If any brother, nephew or any person in the family ties my shoelace, then it is an example of the same country where Bharat ji kept Lord Ram’s khadau (wooden slippers) on the throne and ruled for 14 years when he was in exile. You should appreciate this.”BJP Minister Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan Singh to ANI.
Twitter users called it ‘disgusting’. “Long way to go for BJP to get rid of self indulgent ministers like this,” one Twitter user said.
“If he can't bend himself and wear shoes then how can he discharge his duties,” asked another Twitter user.
These were some other reactions.
Chaudhary Laxmi Narayan Singh was earlier in the news when he said Hanuman was neither a Dalit nor a Muslim but a Jat.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)