Minister lauds officer's beauty in public

Woman bureaucrat was at function with SP leader in UP

A senior woman official in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district found herself in a tight spot, when a minister in the state started appreciating her beauty at a public function in the district.

After distributing cheques to unemployed youths, minister for khadi and village industry Raja Ram Pandey suddenly started showering praises on the district magistrate, who was present there, much to her astonishment and dismay on Monday.

Pandey, who is also the in-charge of the district, said he was lucky to have women magistrates on both the times when he was at the helm of affairs in Sultanpur. “When I was first made the in-charge of Sultanpur, it had a woman district magistrate,” the minister said

“Mujhe lagta tha ki unse achchi mahila DM nahi ho sakti par ye (current DM) mujhe unse bhi achchi lagti hain,” he said. (I used to think that no other woman DM could be beautiful than the first one, but I find this DM more beautiful)

Though the audience, which had many Samajwadi Party (SP) workers, cheered and clapped, the district magistrate seemed uncomfortable.

Incidentally, Pandey is not the only minister, who has embarrassed his own government by putting its foot in the mouth.

A few days ago, senior minister and SP general secretary Azam Khan had termed the Taj Mahal, the monument of love, as a symbol of ‘extravagance’. He had said he would have led the mob to demolish the monument which triggered widespread condemnation.

Party in trouble

Khan has put his own government and party in trouble by his irresponsible statements on some or the other issues. A few months ago at a public function, he had called policemen middlemen and termed a senior official ill-mannered while rebuking him in public.

Both Khan and Pandey are considered to be among the most powerful ministers in the Akhilesh’s cabinet.