An Independent legislator’s wiping his hands using the pallu (loose end of the sari) of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ex-parliamentarian Neeta Pateriya during a
public programme at Seoni district headquarters has stirred a hornet’s nest in Madhya Pradesh.
MlA Dinesh Rai is under withering fire after Wednesday’s incident at the Polytechnic Ground and Madhya Pradesh BJP Secretary Pateriya also doused him with verbal vitriol. Public
representatives were descending from a stage after the
conclusion of an agricultural insurance certificate distribution programme when Rai wiped his ‘black ink-stained’ hands on the pallu of Pateriya who was ahead of him.
The former MP did not immediately realise what had happened but watched video footage later. “I do not have such a relationship with the MlA that he can play this type of joke on me. The legislator ought to have kept in mind the dignity of his post. I am not jocular by nature and I never behaved light-heartedly in 25 years of political existence. The MlA should learn how to behave in public life,” she said.
For his part, Rai dismissed the incident as a joke. Claiming that he views Pateriya as an elder brother’s wife, a mother and a sister and respects her, the MlA added that his intention was not to either insult or sadden anyone but if Pateriya felt unhappy then he apologises.
Meanwhile, the footage was uploaded on social media and drew comments almost all of them lambasting the legislator.