Rahul's beggar remark in UP sparks war of words

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday kicked off the party's campaign for the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly election in Phulpur by saying that UPites have been forced by failed governments to beg in Maharashtra.

In a debate that followed, the party came to his defence while the opposition claimed Rahul had insulted the people of UP.

Defending the Gandhi scion, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had been put in a very demeaning position.

"If you look at the plight of the people from UP and Bihar, the way they have to travel and the kind of atrocities they face, you know it is not a healthy sign. It is a very very demeaning position that they are put under because they cannot stay back at home. There is no work, there is no help, there is no security," he said.

However, the opposition parties came down heavily on Rahul, with BSP saying that people migrated for better prospects.

"If the people are migrated, if people are going for better prospects, do you think it is beggary?" said BSP leader Vijay Bahadur Singh.

Reacting to the statement of the Congress leader, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the words used by him were humiliating and insulting to the people of the state.

"Use of the term that "bheek mangna parta hai, kab tak bheek maangtey rahoge" in fact the precise words that he used, is I think absolutely humiliating and insulting to the people of Uttar Pradesh," said Chandan Mitra.

Pilot, however, pointed to the poor state of development in Uttar Pradesh, claiming that its performance was worst in the country.

He said, "In 20 years, you name one industry, one factory, one investment, Uttar Pradesh has performed perhaps the worst amongst all of the states."