A Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday questioned the patriotism of cricketer Virat Kohli for getting married to Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma in a ceremony in Italy, PTI reported.
“Virat earned money in India,” Panna Lal Shakya told a gathering in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district. “But he didn’t find any place to marry in the country. Is Hindustan untouchable?” Kohli and Sharma got married in Italy on December 11, ending weeks of media speculation.
“Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Vikramaditya, Yudhishthir got married on this land. You all must have got married here. None of us goes to a foreign country to get married,” Shakya said. “[Kolhi] earned money here and spent billions there [Italy]. [He] doesn’t have any respect for the country. This proves he is not a patriot.”
Shakya was speaking to people at the Skill India Centre in Guna, and told them that the training imparted to them would be useless if they do not work in India. “After getting trained, you all should work here in the country. This would be the biggest national service,” he told the gathering. “Otherwise, earn money and go to Italy to marry like Virat, enjoy picnic and come back.”
The MLA claimed that dancers from Italy become millionaires in India, while some people were also taking the country’s money in Italy. “Then what will you give to the country,” he asked, adding that someone cannot become an “ideal person” just because they are famous. “Our ideal person is one who is honest to the country and earns money through hard work,” he said.
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