Lucknow, May 30 (IANS): The BJP slammed Uttar Pradesh minister Shivpal Singh Yadav on Saturday for saying that natural calamities were taking place because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP's former state party chief Surya Pratap Shahi told IANS that the comments of Shivpal Singh Yadav, who is the younger brother of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, were not only deplorable but also distasteful.

"By making such a comment, the SP leadership in the state is only showing its mindset. In the absence of any credible work in the past three years and also rattled by prime minister Modi's continued good ratings across the nation, the minister seems to have lost his balance," Shahi added.

Shivpal Singh Yadav, who holds the number two position in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet, at an event on Friday said that natural calamities like hailstorms, unseasonal rain and heat wave were the result of "nature's disapproval of Modi".

He had also accused the union government of discriminating against Uttar Pradesh and of trying to block the developmental projects initiated by the state government.