Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj KS Eshwarappa has stirred a hornet's nest by comparing Congress state legislators to the members of the transgender community.
"Before our government came to power, a few Congress MLAs showed their interest in joining the BJP. But, they were afraid of losing the elections, as 50,000 Muslims would not vote for them. This is a kind of 'Hijada' (eunuch) behavior," said Eshwarappa while addressing a public meeting here on Sunday.
The minister further added that he never "pleased" the community or "wished them" and still managed to win the votes.
Eshwarappa made another controversial statement and said that only "patriot Muslims" will vote in the favour of BJP and those against patriotism, traitors and siding with Pakistan, will hesitate.
This is not the first time the minister has stirred a controversy, he had earlier said that the BJP will not give tickets to Muslims if they do not "believe" in the party.
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