UP minister's slip of tongue at state legislative council oath ceremony

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza today committed a faux pas by uttering "vidhan sabha parishad" instead of "vidhan parishad" while taking oath as a member of the state legislative council. While taking the oath, the science and technology minister said, "Main Mohsin Raza jo vidhan sabha parishad ka sadasya nirvaachit huaa hoon (I, Mohsin Raza, who has been elected as member of Legislative Assembly Council)". Subsequently, the BJP leader corrected himself after the mistake was pointed out to him. Raza is the lone Muslim face of the 48-member council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, took the oath for the third House, having done the same for UP assembly and Lok Sabha, in the last five years. "The country is developing under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I thank the party leadership for giving me an opportunity to become a member of the UP Legislative Council. As a result, in a span of 5 years, I have got the chance to become the member of three Houses," he told reporters here. "We will develop Uttar Pradesh in such a way that there will be no corruption, dynasty politics or cult politics ('vyaktiwad'). There will only be nationalism and development," Maurya said. Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma also thanked the people of the state and party leadership. "We have tried to take up a range of initiatives that the previous regime was unable to do even in five years," he asserted. State minister (independent charge) Swatantra Dev Singh said, "Law and order has improved in the state. Development is going on. A number of criminals have been gunned down in numerous encounters across the state."