Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad sparked controversy on Wednesday during a visit to a flood-affected village in Kanpur Dehat, where he referred to the rising waters of the Ganga river as a blessing from the holy river. The remark of Nishad met a sharp reply from an elderly woman.
The woman could be heard saying to him and his officials to live in the village if the floods were truly a blessing. Responding to the backlash, the minister said that to control the flooding villages was not controllable and that he was "trying to give them emotional support".
In the video, which has gone viral now, Nishad could be seen visiting a flood-affected village in the state and speaking to people when a villager complained to the minister about the rise in water level. Responding to the villager, Nidshad replied, "You are Ganga's children”.
"The mother Ganga river comes to your doorstep to clean the feet of her children and this would take you directly to heaven," the minister added.
"And it is the good fortune that the Ganga comes uninvited at odd hours," he further said.
Later, Nishad and other members reached another part of the village, where more members gathered with the minister and continued explaining the floods as a divine occurrence.
Reacting to Nishad, an elderly woman replied, where she could be heard saying that the minister should also stay in the village and take the blessing of Ganga himself.
"Then you should stay here too and take the blessing of Ganga yourself," she was heard saying.