New Delhi: Meghalaya governor Satya Pal Malik has triggered a massive row after making startling claims against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah over farmers’ issues, remarks that he later clarified but stopped short of retracting.
It has created a political storm with the opposition Congress on Monday demanding clarification from Modi and Shah.
Malik, who has been publicly criticizing the Union government over the farmers’ issue, claimed that Modi showed “arrogance” when he met him recently over deaths of farmers during their year-long agitations.
Addressing a function in Haryana, Malik was caught on camera saying, “When I went to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the farmer issue, I ended up fighting with him within five minutes. He was very arrogant. When I told him that 500 of our own (farmers) had died… he said, ‘Did they die for me?’ I told him yes, since you are the king. I ended up having an argument with him. He told me to meet Amit Shah and I did.”
Malik added, “When I met Amit Shah, he said ‘Satya Pal, he (PM Modi) has lost his mind. You be carefree and keep meeting us.”
When contacted by HT on Monday, Malik, however, said, “I didn’t say the PM was arrogant; he was just adamant about his position.” He also clarified that the home minister did not speak ill of Modi and told him that people are telling Modi all kinds of things and so he must meet and give him the right picture.
