Sambhal (UP): A day after a video of him weeping in front of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi went viral, Samajwadi Party leader (SP) Firoz Khan on Thursday said he cleaned up statues of the leader, which were being ignored for past two years under the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.
"BJP is synonymous with drama. When our SP government was in Uttar Pradesh, the administration used to clean the statues of Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary. It has not been done for the past two years. I regret to say that that it is our responsibility to clean idols of Mahatma Gandhi and we are not fulfilling it," he told reporters here.
The SP leader was seen in a video breaking down after paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Fawara Chowk in Chandausi Kotwali area.
The SP leader also hit out at the government saying that crores of rupees were being spent in the name of "Bapu".
He also said that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will not become a success until the initiative gets everyone's support.
"When Bapu gave us this nation, his policies and intentions were clear. We want that the government should work and not to show off. Our Opposition should clarify whether they are with Bapu or Godse. I cleaned idols of Bapu on his birth anniversary and the Opposition is dubbing it as drama. We will not allow this discrimination. Crores of rupees are being spent in the name of Bapu. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will not become a success until it gets everyone's support," he said.
On being asked about people's reaction to his sudden breakdown, the SP leader reiterated that he became emotional on realising the fact that the one leader who led the freedom movement has met this fate wherein his statues are not even being cleaned or taken care of.
He went ahead to say that anyone in his position would have become emotional, and women and children would have also wept to see this condition of the father of the nation.
He remarked that a tear or two for the Mahatma won't harm anybody.
Also read: UP: 9 prisoners walk free from Aligarh jail on Gandhi Jayanti
