UP minister tells media to mend their ways

Uttar Pradesh minister Vijay Bahadur Pal, who had recently called the state’s policemen “an organised gang of licensed official marauders”, kicked up another row after he allegedly threatened the media.

Vijay Bahadur Pal, the Minister of State for Secondary Education, at a meeting of the Samajwadi Party workers in Kannauj district on Wednesday, threatened to put the media persons in their place if they did not mend “your ways”
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“Kuch patrakar sochten hain ki woh apni talwar se kranti kar denge. Par woh samajwadiyon ko nahin jante... agar woh apni par a jayen to unki aukat dikha denge.” (Some mediapersons think that they will bring a revolution with their pen. But they do not know SP workers. If they show their true nature, the scribes will be shown their right place), the minister was heard telling the crowd.

Another minister Shiv Kumar Beria too kicked up a controversy when he warned those helped by the Samajwadi Party for not attending the party’s cycle rally.

“We have helped ration dealers and others but they did not attend our cycle rally. We will now fix them,” Beria said in Kanpur Dehat on Wednesday.

Recently Vijay Bahadur Pal had said: “The men in khaki have been looting the people. The common people are fed up with the police force.” Earlier, senior minister Azam Khan had called policemen “dalals” (brokers).