Hyderabad, July 14: Union Tribal Minister Jual Oram on Friday stirred a controversy when he described absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya as “smart”. Oram while encouraging tribals in Hyderabad asked them not only to be hard working, but they should also become smart workers. The union minister was urging the tribals to develop the spirit of entrepreneurship, and then he cited an example of Mallya. He said that Mallya had built a successful business before committing fraud.

The union minister said, “You people criticise Vijay Mallya. But what is Vijay Mallya? He is smart. He employed some intelligent people. He did something here and there with bankers, politicians, government.” He further added that though people of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes were getting reservations, they were not treated at par with others. Oram also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wanted the people of SC/ST community should not become only job-seekers, and the government would encourage tribal entrepreneurs through various schemes.

Realising his mistake of taking Mallya's name, Oram apologised on Saturday. Talking to news agency ANI, the union minister said that he accidentally took the liquor baron’s name. He said, “I should have taken someone else's name. I should not have taken his name, and it was my mistake.”

Vijaya Mallya is currently residing in The United Kingdom after defaulting on loans from various Indian banks amounting to Rs. 9,000 crore. He is presently on a 650,000 pounds bail since April 2017. Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard in April last year, and later he was released on bail. India is negotiating with the UK authorities for the extradition of Mallya.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 14, 2018 01:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).