Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav speaks to senior journalist Shekhar Gupta on NDTV's Walk the Talk
Akhilesh Yadav, the country's youngest Chief Minister, has some unsolicited advice for Prime Minister Narendra Modi - less action on Facebook, more on the ground.
Speaking on NDTV's Walk the Talk show, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said the prime minister should counsel his party men and allies to be more progressive.
"Facebook
par kam baat ho, zameen pe zyaada kaam ho (less talk on Facebook, more work on the ground," Mr Yadav quipped when asked what his message would be if he came face to face with PM Modi, who is acknowledged as one of the world's most social media-savvy politicians.
The 42-year-old Mr Yadav had his hands full in the past few weeks over the mob killing of a Muslim man in the state's Dadri area on September 28 over rumours that he had beef in his house.
At least seven of the men arrested for the crime are linked to a local BJP leader and several other leaders of the party made incendiary speeches.
Yesterday, in his
first direct comment on the incident, PM Modi said he was saddened but questioned, "What is the Centre's role?"
Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, the chief of the Samajwadi Party, have alleged that the killing was not a spontaneous act and a part of the BJP's strategy to whip up communal passions in the state.
"I am against beef-eating personally but people across the world are eating it...Do they want to shut down the industry? You can't take law into your hands. A man is eating something in his home, and now look at the kind of debate...people are saying I have eaten beef, come and kill me...Is this India's culture? What will the world say?" Mr Yadav said.
"The BJP and the PM will be embarrassed if they read what the international press has written after Dadri."
Reacting to the comments, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said Akhilesh Yadav should worry about people laughing at law and order in his own state.
"Akhilesh Yadav should answer why the police in UP look for buffalos instead of people," Mr Kohli said, adding: "Facebook and Twitter are mediums of communication and not governance. And the government is working - look at our achievements."