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Preetam Lodhi said that the condition of roads in Madhya Pradesh during Congress regime was like that of Om Puri, whereas under the BJP rule, roads are like late Sridevi.
The BJP MLA compared the state’s roads to Sridevi and Om Puri.
Remember former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad’s old jibe about making the roads of Bihar as smooth as the cheeks of actress Hema Malini? Now a BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh has stirred a political row by making an unusual comparison.
BJP MLA Preetam Lodhi, who arrived in a cab at the monsoon session of the state legislative assembly on Monday was speaking about state’s pothole-ridden roads during monsoon season.
Making a bizarre comparison, he said that the condition of roads in Madhya Pradesh during the erstwhile Congress regime was like that of actor Om Puri, whereas under the BJP rule, roads are like actress Sridevi.
“During Digvijaya Singh’s tenure (as MP chief minister), roads were like (cheeks of) Om Puri, while under the BJP, they are like Sridevi. But now it’s raining. We still need to negotiate with Lord Indra,” the MLA from Pichhore constituency in Shivpuri district was quoted as saying by news agency PTI when questioned about potholes and a recent cave-in incident in Bhopal.
VIDEO | Bhopal: BJP MLA Peetam Lodhi from Pichhore, Shivpuri, arrived at the Assembly in a cab, saying, “The streets are flooded due to heavy rains, and I own a small car, which made it difficult to drive, so I had to take a cab. Earlier, during Digvijaya Singh’s tenure, the… pic.twitter.com/pNorrovzWL— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 28, 2025
The controversial remarks sparked outrage and demands for his removal.
MP Congress women’s wing president Vibha Patel condemned the comment as indecent and disrespectful toward a deceased woman. She demanded that Lodhi either apologise or be dismissed by his party.
“BJP MLAs have become habituated to insulting women. Our brave women were insulted during Operation Sindoor,” she said, apparently referring to controversial remarks made by the state’s senior minister, Kunwar Vijay Shah, against Colonel Sophia Qureshi, the face of the official briefings during Operation Sindoor.
“The amount of training BJP leaders receive on culture and etiquette notwithstanding, the power-drunk leaders keep on insulting women. If the MLA does not apologise and if the BJP fails to sack him, we will take to the streets and won’t let these MLAs sit in peace,” she added.
The face of Bollywood actor Om Puri who died in 2017, was scarred by a bout of smallpox in childhood, meanwhile veteran actress Sridevi passed away in 2018 at the age of 54.
This is not the first time Lodhi has made headlines for his bizarre remarks. Around two months ago, while speaking on caste-based census, he had said, “In India, the Modi-Lodhi coin will rule. The OBC community will benefit greatly from caste-based census. The Lodhis will rise.”
In 2022, he was criticised for his casteist remarks against the Brahman community.
While addressing a students’ function to mark the birth anniversary of warrior queen Avantibai Lodhi, he had said, “The Brahmins were fooling people in the name of offering religious rituals and prayers, and grabbing money and other things from commoners. They (Brahmins) are prospering on our money and resources. Seeing beautiful women from good families, they (Brahmins) want to have food at these women’s homes. They want young women seated in the front row and make elderly women sit at the back.”
(With inputs from agencies)
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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Bhopal, India, India
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