Odisha labour and employees’ state insurance minister Sarada Prasad Nayak courted controversy after he was seen in a video showering money on a qawwali singer.
The video went viral, putting the minister in a tight spot.
Nayak, 64, one of the prominent faces of the ruling BJD, is currently an MLA from Rourkela of Sundergarh district.
On Tuesday, he went to a hotel to attend a programme organised by the Muslim youths of the Sundergarh district. Rais Anis Sabri, a well-known Sufiyana qawwal from Uttar Pradesh, was performing on a famous ghazal “Saap dase to dost bachaye, dost dase to kon bachaye” and being impressed with his performance, the audience started showering money on him.
Nayak, who is popular in Sundergarh district, could not rein in his emotions and came near Rais Anis Sabri to shower money on him. Nayak and his supporters were seen throwing currency notes of denominations of Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 100, Rs 20 and Rs 10.
Although Nayak could not be contacted, his local supporters maintained that the minister was told that it was a custom to shower money on a qawwali singer.