Bangalore:
17 MPs and MLAs from Uttar Pradesh took off this morning on a trip to exotic foreign destinations even as their state is trying to recover from the devastating riots in Muzaffarnagar in September last year. The man heading the seven-nation, 18-day tour is the state's Urban Development Minister, Azam Khan, who, incidentally, is also the man in charge of the riot-hit district.
Naturally, criticism over the trip has come in thick and fast.
"It's a shameless thing that ministers are going on study tours," said BJP Spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Nazqi.
The Congress, which derives external support from the ruling Samajwadi Party in UP also, slammed the trip. "At a time when Muzaffarnagar is reeling under problems and there is acute cold, the ministers and the legislators need to be in their constituencies. It is more of excursion and holidaying than a learning tour," said Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
The tour by UP legislators comes on the tail of considerable criticism of similar trips undertaken by their southern counterparts in Karnataka.
A group of legislators has just completed a tour of Australia and New Zealand. But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has defended it, saying such 'study tours' are useful.
"The Speaker has taken a decision not to send legislature committees abroad. Study tours are always useful (but) there is drought so it is not advisable now. They are also responsible persons, they are elected representative," Mr Siddaramaiah told NDTV.
The Opposition, though, is not so defiant about the criticism over the junkets.
"These kinds of study tours are not going to help anybody... It is only to get relaxation or to spend some time outside... that is why they go," HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, told NDTV.
"They should know when to go and when not to go and how conducive the atmosphere is in our state," the BJP's Basavaraj Bommai said.
For now, it appears as if MLAs from Karnataka will not be going on any such tours, at least, in the near future.