After being caught on tape while allegedly mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious “Swachchh Bharat campaign” and embarrassing the ruling BJP in Haryana, State Minister Krishan Kumar Bedi on Monday said that the issue has been blown out of proportion and he was just apprising the officials that no wrong message should go about the campaign.
A day before, the Minister was caught on tape while allegedly mocking the Prime Minister’s pet project “Swachh Bharat” campaign, saying, “Don’t know what all Modi will make us do.” Bedi, who is Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, is purportedly heard saying this in a video as he held a broom in his hand while cleaning a ground in Fatehabad.
The Minister along with senior officials of Fatehabad District Administration was cleaning the ground at Panchayat Bhawan in Haryana’s Fatehabad on Sunday on the concluding day of a sanitation campaign there.
After the Minister’s remarks, other officials present at the spot with him burst into laughter. When Bedi noticed that his comments may have been captured by media present there, he asked them, “I hope you are not recording it. Don’t make me land in any trouble.” The video has since gone viral on the social media.
When asked about his remarks, Bedi on Monday clarified, “Someone had brought to his notice that some officials are not taking the campaign seriously. I was telling the officials that some people are trying to publicise the fact that they (officials) are being forced to pick up the broom because of Prime Minister Modi.”
“I was only bringing this fact to their notice that such an impression should not go out that officials are not willingly picking up the broom to clean. Now, if someone has made a video recording and linked with my comment in this manner, then it is not right. I was only apprising the officials and the whole issue was in that context only and not anything else,” the Minister said.
He added, “The Government is committed to the Swachh Bharat campaign. We want that entire Haryana should not only be clean, but healthy too.”
The incident has caused major embarrassment to the Manohar lal Khattar Government in Haryana, which will complete one year in office this month. The video has also prompted the opposition to take a swipe at the State Government over “lack of seriousness” on “Swachh Bharat” campaign.
On the issue, Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar said BJP Ministers are not keen on real service and tackling real issues, but they just believe in tokenism.
The State’s main Opposition INlD’s senior leader Abhay Chautala said, “This shows how serious the government and its ministers are about campaigns launched by Prime Minister.” This is not the first time when Krishan Kumar Bedi has courted controversy.
In January this year, Bedi was in the midst of another controversy when Kurukshetra’s Civil Surgeon Vandana Bhatia had complained that Bedi had allegedly misbehaved with her over telephone, a charge which had been trashed by the Minister then.