News Brief
Kuldeep Negi
Jul 31, 2024, 01:15 PM | Updated 01:46 PM IST
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Former Union minister and BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Wednesday (31 July) responded to Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav's comments in the Lok Sabha by sharing a compilation of old videos.
During a discussion on the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, BJP leader Thakur had said, "The 'shahzada' (prince) from this party will give us 'gyan'? First he has to understand what LoP stands for - it is Leader of the Opposition and not leader of propaganda. All I want to say is that he should stop spreading lies. There is a lot of talk about OBC and caste census. He whose caste is unknown is talking about a census?"
Though Thakur had not named anyone in his statement, there was an uproar in the Lower House following the remarks, with LoP Rahul Gandhi interjecting to allege that Thakur had insulted him.
However, Thakur continued with the attack.
Akhilesh Yadav backed Rahul Gandhi and criticised Thakur's reference to caste as inappropriate and unacceptable.
"Aapne jati kaise puch li? (How can you ask anybody's caste?)" Yadav asked.
In a sharp rebuttal, Thakur took to X to respond to Yadav's critique.
Thakur posted a video compilation of instances where Yadav asked about people's caste.
The video featured two clips: one showing Yadav asking a journalist about his caste and another where he can be seen discussing the caste of another.
"How did you ask about caste, Akhilesh ji," read the caption of Thakur's post.
Thakur's remarks in the Lok Sabha were endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who shared a link to the Hamirpur MP's speech on his social media handles.
"This speech by my young and energetic colleague, Shri @ianuragthakur is a must-hear. A perfect mix of facts and humour, exposing the dirty politics of the INDI Alliance," the Prime Minister wrote.
Kuldeep is Senior Editor (Newsroom) at Swarajya. He tweets at @kaydnegi.