Nothing wrong in urging Pratibha to shorten speech: Negi

Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi today said that there was nothing wrong in requesting state Congress president Pratibha Singh to cut short her speech during the function at Bilaspur on December 11. “The function was running a little behind the schedule, so she was requested to shorten her speech a little. What’s wrong with that?” he added. Pratibha had lost her cool and composure briefly when a message was sent to her to shorten her speech. She had expressed her displeasure publicly and even reprimanded the messenger.

The BJP quickly lapped up the opportunity and termed it as an insult to the Congress chief. “The BJP should look inwards to see who all are being insulted. No one has forgotten the viral video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath not even talking to each other,” he added.

To a question about the BJP MPs meeting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and seeking Rs 900 crore for the state for disaster risk reduction, Negi questioned on what basis they sought this miniscule amount. “Central teams have assessed the state’s losses due to natural calamities at around Rs 10,000 crore. So, why are the BJP MPs seeking just Rs 900 crore from the Central Government?” he wondered.

Negi said, “The good thing is that the BJP MPs have at least finally woken up to the interests of the state.” He brushed aside the submission of a document by the BJP to the Governor detailing alleged scams under the Congress government on December 11 when the Congress government was celebrating two years in office at Bilaspur. “It’s nothing new. The BJP does such things all the time when it is out of power. And when it comes back to power, it does nothing about chargesheets,” he alleged.