Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath was filmed getting his shoelaces tied by party MLA Rajneesh Singh here in Seoni.
The incident came to light after a video surfaced online, which showed Singh tying Nath's shoelaces after the latter paid tribute to former Himachal Pradesh Governor and Congress leader Urmila Singh.
Although the video raised eyebrows, Singh said the gesture was a way of showing respect to the state Congress president.
"He (Kamal Nath) is like a father figure to me..I respect him a lot. Since my school days, I have been touching his feet for blessings. He is close to my family, especially my dad," Singh told ANI.
The Congress MLA further noted that the incident is being misunderstood in the eyes of the public, largely due to the media.
"This incident should not create any controversy because there were too many people in the room when Kamal Nath Ji paid tribute to Urmila Singh. Also, it was difficult for him to find his shoes so I looked for it and placed it before him just to help him out. The media is exaggerating the incident," he said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)