Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur on Monday faced a storm overindulging in "inflammatory" sloganeering during a campaign meeting for the Delhi Assembly election, which was later attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Video footage of Thakur clapping his hands and chanting, "desh ke gaddaron ko (traitors of the country)..." to which the crowd responded, "goli maaro saalon ko (shoot them all)", went viral on social media.
Thakur indulged in sloganeering before Shah reached the venue. Another senior minister Giriraj Singh was also present in the venue and at one point, Thakur was egging the crowd to be louder so that his senior ministerial colleague should be able to hear their voice.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "the Cabinet is about 'collective responsiblity'. A Union minister calls for 'goli maaro'. Does Prime Minister's silence mean approval? The government must listen to the people and take back CAA."
Senior lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan tweeted, "this fellow should be in jail for incitement. Instead, he is in the Cabinet. BJP finds only such lumpen as candidates and for Cabinet."
Congress leader in Karnataka Priyank Kharge tweeted, "brilliant! Never have I heard MoS Finance Anurag Thakur speak on the state of the economy, jobs, budget, etc. Since the budget gets prepared in Nagpur, Mantri has no work to do and is free to be a hate monger! This is the sorry state of leadership in BJP!"
On Sunday, a youth was thrashed by the crowd during Shah's campaign meeting in Babarpur after he shouted slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act. As the crowd targeted the youth, Shah intervened and asked security personnel to rescue him even as he continued his speech by saying 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.