Political leaders on Tuesday criticised Uttar Pradesh Transport Minister Durga Prasad Yadav for going on an alleged pleasure trip to Brazil with his family reportedly on government expense.
Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Rita Bahuguna Joshi criticized Yadav for mixing his personal life with professional.
"Mixing work with pleasure and mixing official work with family excursion is not acceptable, it should not happen and moreover, the people are very closely watching, the media is there. People want probity and public life, they expect some sort of moral standards being set by politicians specially ministers in positions of power," said Joshi.
She also said that Yadav and his family should now tell the people about the funding of their expenses.
"If has taken half a dozen or dozen members of his family. I think it sends a very wrong signal. The least what he can do now is, the ministry or he himself or his family members should come clean on who is funding this trip and what is the purpose of the trip. So people are now watching what he is doing there," she added.
Further recalling the minister's Europe tour earlier during Muzaffarnagar riots, she said, "That was very wrong timing when UP was facing one of the worst riots and the country was focused on Muzaffarnagar and the pain of the people there. At that time, over a dozen MLAs going on a trip along with ministers. I think that was absolutely not in tune with the sorrow and pain that the state was going through."
Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Sudhindra Bhadoria also lashed out at Yadav for the trip and said that strict action should be taken against him.
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"Recently some months back over half a dozen ministers and MLAs also probably they had visited Europe on a pleasure trip but the name was given that it was a study tour. Similarly now we see Durga Prasad Yadav who is a senior minister in Akhilesh Yadav's government in UP is on a trip to brazil to understand the transport system and also see how the roads and all have been built over there," said Bhadoria.
He also said that at a time when the farmers are committing suicide, there is a huge electricity problem, and unemployment problem is also there, at that time spending Public Exchequer's money on their pleasure trip has not only to be condemned but a strict action should be taken against Durga Prasad Yadav.
"If Akhilesh Yadav fails to do it, it only speaks of the mindset of the UP government and that Akhilesh is condoling all these kinds of activities and also indirectly participating in it," he added.
Durga Prasad Yadav has fueled criticism after reportedly taking off for Brazil along with his family to study Brazil's transport system.
Reports also say that the minister and his family will also be visiting Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro during the state-sponsored week-long tour.