MP minister fails to read Republic Day speech, Collector comes to rescue

Bhopal, Jan 26: It was an embarrassing situation for a Madhya Pradesh minister on Saturday when she failed to read her speech during the Republic Day celebration programme held at SAF ground in Gwalior on Saturday.

Finding it difficult to continue, she asked district collector Bharat Yadav to take over and read it for the audience.

A video of the incident shared by the news agency ANI has gone viral on social media.

In the video, Imarti Devi can be heard reading the first few lines of the speech after which she stopped and said " Collector saheb padhenge (collector will read)".

After the video went viral, Devi told ANI that she was not keeping well for the past two days. "I was sick for the past two days, you can ask the doctor. But it is okay. the collector read it (the speech) properly," Devi said.

Devi had taken oath as the Woman and Child Development Minister earlier last month after Chief Minister Kamal Nath allocated 28 new ministers for the state.

Imarti Devi was elected member of the 13th assembly in 2008. From 2008-2011, she was a member of the Library Committee and a member of the Committee of Welfare of Women and Children from 2011-2014. She was also the patron of the Anusuchit Jati/Janjati Hit Raksha Sangh.