Gandhi family never respected Lal Bahadur Shashtri: Siddharth Nath Singh

Uttar Pradesh Minister Sidharth Nath Singh has criticised the Congress alleging that the party including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra never respected the country's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

"This is condemnable. She (Priyanka) comes from Nehru-Vadra family. She has insulted the second Prime Minister of the country. She took out her own garland and put it on the statue, this indicates that she does not respect him. If she does not respect him she should not have put a garland in the first place," Singh told ANI on Wednesday.

He added, "However, it is also a fact that the Gandhi family has never respected Shastri Ji. Had they respected him then Atal ji would not have had to make Shastri Memorial in 2005."

His remark comes after a video appeared online showing Priyanka garlanding a statue of the former Prime Minister with a used garland.

Soon after Priyanka garlanded Shastri's statue, BJP workers were seen "purifying" it with 'Gangajal' (water from the holy river Ganga).

BJP workers alleged that garlanding of the statue by Priyanka was an "insult" to the former Prime Minister since her husband Robert Vadra and the Congress party are involved in corruption.

Priyanka was on a three-day long 'Ganga Yatra' from Prayagraj to Varanasi. The tour, titled 'Sanchi Baat Priyanka ke Saath', saw Priyanka interacting with people during her 140 kilometre-long travel on a steamer boat to Assi Ghat in Varanasi.

The Congress leader's 'Ganga Yatra' was part of the campaign for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections which will begin from April 11 and end on May 19, in seven phases. Polling in Uttar Pradesh for the 80 Lok Sabha seats at stake will be held in all phases, and counting of votes will take place on May 23.