BSP minister's sack demanded for anti-Mahatma remarks

The Congress today demanded the sacking of an Uttar Pradesh minister who allegedly said Mahatma Gandhi was a criminal.

The Congress on Tuesday demanded the sacking of an Uttar Pradesh minister who allegedly said Mahatma Gandhi was a criminal.

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Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Awadh Pal Singh Yadav of the Mayawati-led government Monday said if the number of cases being lodged against somebody were the yardstick to term him a criminal, then Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were criminals too.

Yadav, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator, "himself has a criminal record, along with other criminal members in the BSP, and he should be booked under a criminal case for abusing Mahatma Gandhi," state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi told reporters on Tuesday.

"We also demand that (Chief Minister) Mayawati expel him from the ministry and also tender her apology to the entire country for Yadav's remark," Joshi said.

Yadav was asked by reporters at Etawah as to why his party had fielded DP Yadav and other criminals. He reportedly said: "I do not think DP Yadav is a criminal. Any politician can be called a criminal because there are a number of cases filed against them. In this regard, the first criminal would be Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Pandit Nehru."