Kamal Nath Blaming 'UP, Bihar Migrants' For Unemployment Evokes Sharp Reaction From BJP, Samajwadi Party
Taking a jibe at Nath over his UP background, Kailash Vijayvargiya asked whether his "outsider" logic should be applied to politics as well.
Bhopal, December 18: After taking charge as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on Monday, Congress veteran Kamal Nath issued a contentious remark, blaming the migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for the looming unemployment in the state. This has evoked a sharp reaction from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is from MP, derided Nath for putting onus on "UP-Bihar migrants". Taking a jibe at Nath over his background, Vijayvargiya asked whether his "outsider" logic should be applied to politics as well.
Nath was born in Kanpur and educated in Bengal, Vijayavargiya pointed, further adding that the Chief Minister's personal business is set up in all parts of the nation.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, also lambasted Nath for his comments. Accusing the new CM of being "unaware", Tomar said regulatory laws are already in place to secure jobs for the native population.
The controversy erupted after Nath, while addressing the press on Monday, said his government would roll-out incentives on investments only if 70 per cent employees in the investing firm are locals.
"Our schemes of providing incentives of investment will only be imposed after 70% people from Madhya Pradesh get employment. People from other states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh come here & local people don't get jobs. I've signed file for this," he said.
Former Union Minister and BJP MP from Bihar, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, said the statements of Nath belittle the immense contribution of the populace of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in development of Madhya Pradesh.
Apart from the BJP, the Samajwadi Party - a coalition partner in the Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh - has also marked dissent over Nath's statements.
"It's wrong, often you get to hear the same from Maharashtra. Same from Delhi, and now from MP as well," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said, adding that North Indian decide "who forms the government at the Centre".
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2018 07:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).