On Akhilesh's 'Vayu Vilas' dig at cruise, BJP leader says, ‘man like you keeps…’

Union minister Giriraj Singh on Tuesday hit back at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav over his taunt at the BJP-led central government after reports claimed that luxury cruise MV Ganga Vilas, which was flagged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, got stuck on the third day of its 51-day journey in Bihar's Chhapra due to shallow water. Akhilesh Yadav, who recently attacked the BJP government for “running a bar on the Ganga Vilas Cruise over the holy river Ganga”, asked whether the stuck passengers will be given 'Vayu Vilas' through aeroplane.

“Do you now understand the difference between cruise and boat?” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), however, dismissed the reports saying the cruise reached Patna as per schedule and was not stuck in Chhapra. Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, chairman, IWAI, said the vessel will continue its onwards journey as per schedule.

"The Ganga Villas reached Patna as per schedule. There is absolutely no truth in the news that the vessel is stuck in Chhapra. The vessel will continue its onward journey as per schedule" IWAI said in a tweet quoting Bandopadhyaya.

Chhapra's CO Satendra Singh said local journalists earlier misquoted him.

"Local journalists have misquoted me, I just said SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) boats were at the spot as a precautionary move. There is no obstacle of any kind," Singh told ANI.

The operators of the vessel also said that it is not stuck and technically can't go to the shore.

"(Where) river is not deep, you have to use shallow boats to get off and on to see the site. The main ship stays in the main channel where there is water. This is what happened here. It is the norm. This is the normal thing," Raj Singh, Chairman, Exotic Heritage Group, told ANI.

Hitting back at Akhilesh, firebrand BJP leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh said “a man like you keeps praying to god day and night that something goes wrong in good deeds.”

“For your information let us tell you that the cruise has reached Patna on time and will reach its next destination Begusarai on time,” he tweeted.