Only desi water for 'plumber' Vijay Sampla

NEW DELHI: Vijay Sampla swung into public limelight on the day he took oath as minister of social justice, his plumber-to-minister story widely reported. As the first-term MP took charge on Monday, he fired another salvo. His first directive was to the peon who brought in bottled water for the new minister.

"Don't serve me this 'videshi' water," he said, referring to the two foreign brands of bottled water. The peon, a quick wit, asked if Rail Neer - Indian railways bottled water - would do.

Taken aback, the Hoshiarpur MP's comeback was a question. Did the office not have an 'RO' dispenser? The peon promptly went off to fetch filtered water. "I want swadeshi," Sampla said.

The junior minister's mandate, he says includes "deaddiction", crucial in view of Punjab's drug menace.

The ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine, especially the Badals, are underfire for the rise in drug abuse among the young generation.

Blaming the Congress for the drug menace, he said "The weak UPA government led to smuggling of drugs from Pakistan. How could flow of drugs stop when our soldiers could be beheaded? The strong central government now is ready to take on Pakistan. So, trans-border smuggling is already down."