'People die in palaces too,' says UP minister on deaths in Muzaffarnagar relief camps

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has so far staunchly fought off the severe criticism his government has faced for holding a grand festival in his ancestral village Saifai when thousands at relief camps in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar are struggling in the cold. However, a bizarre remark by one of his ministers today has made Mr Yadav's task tougher.

Narad Rai, Uttar Pradesh's sports minister, said death cannot be avoided and they occur everywhere, even in palaces.

"Deaths of children, adults and elderly are inevitable. It isn't necessary that only those living in camps are dying. People die in palaces too. It isn't that children in our homes don't die. Deaths occur everywhere," the minister said when asked about children dying in relief camps in Muzaffarnagar.

Thirty-four children have reportedly died at relief camps in Muzaffarnagar in just over two months.

Two weeks ago, a senior official in the state government, AK Gupta, had said "Nobody dies of the cold; if people did, then nobody would survive in Siberia."

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had reacted sharply to the bureaucrat's comment, urging for more sensitivity and caution while making statements. "In this age of television and cameras, people from our party and government should choose their words carefully so they don't hurt anyone's feelings," Mr Yadav had said.

The UP government has been admonished for holding a festival at Saifai that concluded earlier this week with a grand finale, which included dance performances by several Bollywood celebrities. Mr Yadav has defiantly defended his government, blaming the media for false reports and sensationalism.

"The media should apologise to me, to Netaji (Mulayam Singh, his father) for their reports on Safai," the unfazed Chief Minister said yesterday, describing the 'Saifai Mahotsava' as a part of the state's policy to boost tourism. (Read)

Mr  Yadav has said his government had done everything possible for the people living in relief camps in Muzaffarnagar, where 60 people were killed and 40,000 displaced in riots that took place in early September.