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Nityanand Rai, BJP MP from Bihar’s Ujiyarpur constituency later claimed his comment was misinterpreted and that he was merely quoting a Hindi proverb

At a time when fringe Rajput outfits and political parties seeking their patronage are baying for the blood of the cast and crew of Deepika Padukone-starrer Padmavati, the Bihar unit chief of the BJP, Nityanand Rai, has sought to diversify the ‘kill and maim rhetoric’. Rai, the Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Ujiyarpur constituency, has called on supporters of his party to “break or chop” fingers and hands raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The BJP Bihar unit chief made the remarks of on Monday while addressing a gathering of Vaishya and Kanu (backward classes) community members in Patna. Rai’s vitriolic speech can be seen as part of the political narrative being built by the BJP-RSS combine and Hindu right-wing outfits to silence critics of the ruling dispensation at the Centre.

Rai, who is among the most prominent faces of the BJP in Bihar, waxed eloquent about the ‘humble’ background of the Prime Minister; telling the gathering that “every individual should take pride (in Narendra Modi) and respect him”.

Referring to Modi’s past and the fact that he came from a poor family but went on to become the country’s prime minister, Rai said: “Jinki maa khana parasti thi, Narendra Modiji ko khana khilane baithti thi, us thaali me maa ko na beta aur bete ko na maa dikhai deti thi. Aaj us paristhiti se uthkar wo desh ke PM bane hain — garib ka beta, uska swabhiman hona chahiye, ek ek vyakti ko iski izzat honi chahiye… (When Narendra Modi’s mother would serve food to him, neither the mother nor the son could see their faces on the plate. From such circumstances, he has grown to be PM — the son of a poor, each individual should be honoured by this.)”

Rai then went on to say: “Unki or uthne waali ungali ko, uthne waale haath ko…hum sub milke…ya to tod dein, zaroorat pari to kaat dein. (Any finger or hand raised against the PM… we should get together to either break it, if need be, chop it off.”

Senior BJP leaders from Bihar, including the state’s deputy chief minister Sushil Modi, were also present at the event where Rai made the obviously objectional comments.

As Rai’s hate speech triggered a backlash from political parties and common citizens alike, the BJP leader quickly recanted and claimed that he had been misinterpreted.

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also said that he “regrets” making the 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Congress party slammed Rai’s comments on Twitter, asserting that the BJP had now “moved to intimidation” after having “created an atmosphere of fear” and that the ruling party was leaving “no breathing room for 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