However, he later denied it, saying that he had called them crybabies, who are unsatisfied with whatever they get and constantly ask for more, not beggars.
Senior minister Nitin Patel on Thursday compared the ruling Congress party members in Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation with beggars.
Patel was speaking at a programme organised by Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority (GUDA) on occasion of inaugurations of various projects by chief minister Narendra Modi when he made the comments.
“The Congress members in Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation are used to behaving like crybabies. The state government provides funds to them, which they keep aside and again start asking for more funds,” Patel said at the function.
The urban development minister then proceeded to give an example of a beggar.
“If you give money to a beggar, he will quickly pocket the money and then start behaving as if he has nothing. This is what Congress members in Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation do. They pocket the grants given by the government and start raising fresh demands for funds,” Patel said at the event.
The chief minister Narendra Modi, minister of state for education, Jaysinh Chauhan, MLAs Shambhuji Thakor and Kalyansinh Chauhan, GUDA chairman Ashok Bhavsar and AUDA chairman Dharmendra Shah were among those present on the dais at the time.
The minister also criticised the Congress for making allegations that the BJP government was busy with celebrations, saying the celebrations were to mark the all-round development taking place in the state.
Reacting to the incident, the Opposition Congress said that Nitin Patel had realized that the power was slipping from beneath BJP’s feet, which was leading them to make such comments.
“Such words are the insult of people of Gandhinagar, who had elected Congress,” Gujarat Congress general secretary Nishit Vyas and Gandhinagar mayor Mahendrasinh Rana, said.
Later, when contacted, Patel denied that he had described Congress members as beggars.
“I only described the Congress people as crybabies - who are unsatisfied with whatever they get and constantly ask for more. I did not call them beggars,” Patel said.
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