House uproar as Bihar minister asks crowd to hit PM photo with shoes

PATNA: A Bihar minister has been caught on camera asking a crowd at a note ban protest to hit with shoes the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sparking condemnation and kicking up a ruckus in the state Legislature.

BJP members staged a protest in the Assembly on Wednesday demanding sacking of the Congress minister Abdul Jalil Mastan, who was present in the House, and registration of a sedition case against him.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condemned his colleague’s action caught on video that was telecast on a local TV channel on Tuesday while Congress and Mastan expressed regret.

However, this did not satisfy the BJP whose members forced adjournment of both the Houses till 2pm over the issue and subsequent adjournment for the day. The video is of a gathering at Amour Assembly constituency of Mastan in Purnea district that was convened on February 22 to protest against demonetisation and for “failing to end” the resultant woes.

In the video, Mastan, who is state Excise and Prohibition minister, was heard telling the crowd that it was the Prime Minister who had said that if he failed to end people’s woes within 50 days of demonetisation, he was prepared to face any punishment.

The video shows the MLA purportedly telling the people to hit the Prime Minister’s photograph with shoes. A few supporters then hit the photograph of Modi kept on a chair on the stage with shoes when the minister was present on the dais. “One can have ideological differences. But, the Constitution does not allow a person, who is a minister in a state, to incite a crowd and to humiliate a Prime Minister in this manner,” senior BJP leader Sushil Modi told PTI.