Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav addresses media after wide-spread condemnation of a Bollywood night held at his hometown Saifai as part of a lavish festival at a time when thousands of displaced villagers are struggling to cope in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar.
Here are the highlights:
- Don't ask Bollywood stars any questions. I am the Chief Minister, ask me
- This festival takes place every year
- It was started by my brother
- The mela committee organizes it
- Our policy is to attract tourists in Uttar Pradesh
- The locals had been preparing for a year
- The traders at the Saifai festival are very small. The events give them some earnings
- The Rs 300 crore budget for the festival is false
- Why are you questioning Bollywood actors, and their families
- State has done everything possible for the people in camps
- Samajwadi Party has done everything possible
- Those claiming Rs 300 crore were spent should apologize. The Committee maintains all records
- Artists come every year
- Wrong to question the Bollywood stars who performed
- Maximun Rs 7 crore spent every year. This year was no different
- Most people connected with the festival are poor
- Salman Khan visited a children's hospital. He paid for a child's treatment. This was never reported
- The media should apologise to me, to Netaji for their reports on Safai