Bhopal, March 5 Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday sought the resignation of Madhya Pradesh Minister Prahlad Patel over his "begging remark" and announced protests across the state.
Prahlad Patel is the Panchayat and Rural Development Minister in Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's cabinet.
Addressing the media, senior Congress leader and former minister Mukesh Nayak said despite being a senior politician, Patel "insulted" people of the state by calling them "beggars", and therefore, should be expelled from the cabinet.
"The Congress workers will stage a massive protest against Prahlad Patel to demand his resignation from the cabinet. The protest would be held in Bhopal and several other parts of the state on March 8," Mukesh Nayak, in-charge of MP Congress' media cell, told IANS.
Addressing a press conference in Rewa, senior Congress leader Arun Yadav on Wednesday asked the party workers to take this "issue" to the people and "expose" the BJP.
Notably, Patel is the minister-in-charge for Rewa district.
Patel, who had earlier defended his remark, saying that he had said nothing wrong and instead blamed Congress and a section of media for twisting his statement, took a U-turn on Tuesday, saying that the public is akin to God.
"People have always been supreme for me, whether they rejected or accepted me. But, how could the corrupt and dishonest like honest politics? That's why my statement was blown out of proportion," Patel said in a post on social media platform X.
His corruption remark was aimed at Congress leaders who made a blistering attack against him over his controversial comment during a function at Rajgarh.
The controversy erupted after a video of Patel's speech at the unveiling ceremony of Veerangana Rani Avantibai Lodhi's statue in Rajgarh district surfaced online.
In the video, Patel is heard saying: "People have developed a habit of begging from the government. Leaders arrive, and they are handed a basket full of petitions. They are garlanded on stage, and a letter is placed in their hands. This is not a good habit. Instead of asking, cultivate the mindset of giving. This will lead to a happier life and help build a cultured society."
He further remarked that this "army of beggars" is weakening society.
"Can you name a martyr who has ever begged?" he asked.
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