Ram Shinde said he urinated in the open as he was feeling ill and couldn't find a toilet
A day after a video of Maharashtra Water Conservation Minister
Ram Shinde urinating by roadside surfaced, the Congress on Monday took a swipe at the government demanding that he be appointed the "brand ambassador" of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for the state.
The clip purportedly shows Mr Shinde urinating by roadside on Solapur-Barshi road. Mr Shinde said he was not feeling well after spending nearly a month touring the state for the government's flagship Jalyukta Shivar scheme and had to urinate in the open as he couldn't find a toilet.
Taunting the minister, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said Mr Shinde proved on World Toilet Day on Sunday that Maharashtra has become open-defecation free. "He should be appointed as the brand ambassador for Swacch Bharat Mission of the state government," the Congress spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.
He accused the government of patting its own back on "non-existing development". "Earlier, Urban Development Department had shown a photo of Bangkok to showcase development. Then it went on to claim how villages, which were not even included in the Jalyukt Shivar scheme, had benefitted from it," he said.
Mr Sawant said the government created only 1,624 toilets in Mumbai in the last three years and that many people still defecate in the open in the city. "The CM had announced two years back that the government will create 50,000 toilets for women in the city. Not a single toilet has been constructed as yet," he claimed.