'Gesture should be appreciated,' says UP minister on govt employee tying his shoelace

New Delhi: A Uttar Pradesh minister stirred a controversy after he was seen getting his shoelace tied by a government employee at a yoga event on Friday.

In the video, Laxmi Narayan, minister of minority affairs and dairy development in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, was seen standing casually along with his supporters as the government employee tied his shoe laces in Shahjahanpur.

It is not clear whether the video was shot before or after the yoga event.

However, justifying the incident, the minister said that it was a gesture of someone helping him wear his shoes which should be appreciated.

"India was a country where Bharat ruled Lord Ram's kingdom for 14 years with the kharau (wooden slippers) of the latter on the throne. This (the gesture of someone helping him wear his shoes) should be appreciated," Narayan said quoting the Ramayana.

He is no stranger to controversies. Last year, while participating in the Deepotsav festival, he had claimed that Lord Ram had helped India became a global superpower.