Chief Minister Yogi demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the  statement of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, terming migrants from UP and Bihar as ‘outsiders’.

“The MP Chief Minister’s statement is unfortunate and represents the divisive and subversive mindset of the Congress for which the party chief Rahul Gandhi must apologise to the nation,’’ tweeted Yogi on Tuesday.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav voiced serious disagreement with MP Chief Minister Kamalnath for blaming ‘outsiders’ grabbing jobs from the locals.  He asked the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre to clarify its stand on the issue.

“MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath is following the path of regional parties of Maharashtra something that is unacceptable. We are used to hearing rants from Maharashtra where Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena often target migrants from UP and Bihar,’’ said Akhilesh in Lucknow on Tuesday. 

The SP chief said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must tell people of north India, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, as to what its policy was on the migration of labour across different states.

Akhilesh said: “It’s unfair on the part of the MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath to target people from UP and Bihar as voters of these two states decide the composition of government at the Centre every five years.’’

Hours after taking oath as the first Congress CM in 15 years, Kamal Nath sparked off a controversy on Monday by blaming ‘outsiders’ for taking away jobs of locals and also proposed incentives for industries who employed local youths.

After the issue snowballed, Kamal Nath clarified that he had no intention to criticise people from Bihar and UP but young people of Madhya Pradesh should not remain deprived.