Rajasthan Minister urinate in public near a poster featuring CM Vasundhara Raje, photo goes viral; calls it 'old-age tradition'

A Rajasthan minister stepped into a fresh controversy. A photo of him urinating in a public place near a wall in Ajmer, right next to a campaign poster featuring Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has been widely surfaced of social media platform. The minister Shambhu Singh Khatesar comes out in self-defence.

Mr Khatesar defending himself said that urinating in the open was "an age-old tradition" and he had done nothing wrong. The politician has triggered an embarrassing controversy for the BJP after urinating right next to a campaign poster. The minister's act is clearly odd with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat mission.

Shambhu Singh Khatesar, the chairman of Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation, however, had also denied urinating near the poster, which featured Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. "The photo of me urinating against a wall is not near a campaign poster," Mr Khatesar told news agency ANI.

Khatesar also said he did not flout PM Modi’s mission objective as while “defecating in public may cause diseases, urinating in the open was not an issue, as long as it is done in a secluded area”.

"The area where I urinated was completely secluded. If a man urinates in such a place, dirt and disease cannot spread," he said. "There was no urinal nearby for kilometres at a stretch and I was busy working since morning," Mr Khatesar added.