Aligarh's mayor Shakuntala Bharti has drawn yet another unsought controversy by referring ex Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee as deceased while delivering a speech during his birthday celebrations.
The situation got worse, when she kept on speaking without realising and said that veteran politician remains in memories.
"Bharat ke purv pradhan mantri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji hamare beech me nahin rahe, lekin unki yadein hai," Bharti said at an event organised to mark Vajpayee's 92nd birthday and 155th birth anniversary of Madan Mohan Malviya.
Taking jibe to Bharti's speech, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Narendra Pachauri has recommended her not to make public speeches.
In a bid to carry out damage control over her statement, she claimed that she was referring to Madan Mohan Malviya not Vajpayee ji. But all her hopes dashed out when she was confronted with a video of her speech. Later she admitted her mistake and regret it.