'Collector Saheb Padenge': Officer Comes to Kamal Nath Minister's Rescue as She Fails to Read Out R-Day Speech

Gwalior: Imarti Devi, the women and child development minister in the Kamal Nath government, has put the Congress party in a spot after she failed to read out chief minister Kamal Nath's message during a Republic Day function organised here.

The incident was caught in camera and the videos have gone viral across social media platforms. It can be seen that Devi reading out the CM's message in broken Hindi but suddenly asks the district collector to take over and read the CM's remaining message.

Before the 43-year-old minister hands over the mic, she says, "Collector saheb padenge (collector will read it)."

Following Devi's order, the Gwalior district collector takes over and reads the remaining message. She then stood behind as Yadav read out Nath's address to the gathering.

After the incident stirred a controversy, Devi tried to defend herself by saying that she was unwell for the past two days and that caused her difficulty in reading.

Reacting to the controversy, Rubina Sharma Singh, who is married to Digvijaya’s younger brother Lakshman, hit out at Kamal Nath for making Devi a minister. She tweeted, "Our respected minister struggles to read a few lines of a speech, makes someone else take over! How embarrassing! @INCIndia @OfficeOfKNath this is the quality of minister you chose over others like @laxmanragho. (sic)"

Devi became a minister in Kamal Nath's government after being elected for three consecutive terms.

The minister, in her election affidavit had stated that she had cleared her higher secondary examination in 2009 through open school. Even during taking oath as a state minister, the minister had stumbled a few times as governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to her.

Currently, Devi represents Dabra constituency in Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly. She has held several posts in her party in the past.