Sharad Yadav takes dig at Rahul Gandhi for visiting IPL

New Delhi, Apr 21 (UNI) Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav today took a dig at Congress MP from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi, for his ''double standards''--espousing the cause of rural poor in Bundelkhand and visiting the IPL cricket match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata the next day.

''One day a person spends a night in a remote region of Bundelkhand and the next day he is spotted at IPL,'' Mr Yadav said sarcastically during a discussion in Rajya Sabha on the Working of the Rural Development Ministry.

He, however, did not mention the Congress MP by name.

Congress member Rajiv Shukla, who is Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and was present in the House, intervened to say that there should be no objection to any person visiting the IPL.

Mr Yadav said he was not objecting to the visit to IPL. He was only opposed to the ''double standards'' of some politicians.

He said the country has had leaders like Mahatma Gandhi who did everything out of conviction and did not have ''dohre mapdand'' (double standards).

''The House has seen leaders like Ram Manohar Lohia, Madhu Dandavate and Jai Prakash Narayan who did everything out of conviction and with dedication. They did not have any double standards,'' he said while lamenting the falling standards of Parliamentary debates, national values and social ethos.

UNI RB PK KP1920