Photo of Rajasthan minister Shambhu Singh Khatesar urinating in public goes viral, he calls it 'age-old tradition'

A Rajasthan minister has landed himself in a controversy after a photograph of him urinating near a wall in Ajmer, right next to a campaign poster featuring Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, went viral on social media.

The minister, Shambhu Singh Khatesar, defended himself by saying that urinating in the open was "an age-old tradition", according to NDTV. He also denied urinating near the campaign poster.

"The photo of me urinating against a wall is not near a campaign poster," ANI quoted him as saying.

#India A state Minister in Rajasthan a northern Indian state has landed in a controversy after a photo of him urinating near a wall went viral on social media. Minister Shambhu Singh Khatesar said urinating in the open was "an age-old tradition". pic.twitter.com/L3bzR405rT

— Eugene Makai (@EugeneMakai) October 7, 2018

Khatesar also denied flouting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission, saying, "defecating in public may cause diseases, but urinating in the open is not an issue, as long as it is done in a secluded area".

"The area where I urinated was completely secluded. If a man urinates in such a place, dirt and disease cannot spread," the minister was quoted as saying by News18. Further defending himself, Khatesar said that he was forced to urinate in public because there was no toilet for kilometres, and he had a busy morning due to an election rally.

He said on Monday that while it isn't right to urinate in open, it's the nature's call. "Urinating in a crowded area is wrong," he added.

With inputs from ANI