Do not buy vegetables from Muslims, says BJP MLA

Lucknow, Apr 28: BJP MLA Suresh Tiwari has kicked up a controversy after allegedly asking residents of Deoria district not to purchase vegetables from Muslim vendors.

In a 14-second clip, which is now viral on social media, the 74-year-old BJP leader is heard saying in Hindi: "Keep one thing in mind, I am telling everyone openly, no one should purchase vegetables from miyas [Muslims]."

Asked about his remark over the phone, Tewari said, "On April 17 or 18, I was distributing masks and sanitizers among the people. When I reached the boundary of the nagar palika, around 17-18 people came to me and started complaining against Tablighi people making a chaos and spreading coronavirus and also contaminating vegetables with their saliva." "I told them not to have fight with them or take the law into own hands, but simply to stop purchasing from them," he said.

"There are many Muslim vendors in Barhaj too and I only advised people not to purchase from them to be saved from the deadly virus," the MLA added.

Meanwhile, UP BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan said the party would look into the circumstances in which the MLA issued such the statement.

Suresh Tiwari is a BJP MLA from Barhaj assembly seat in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Anurag Bhadauriya slammed Suresh Tiwari for his comments and said, "Even in such challenging times, BJP leaders are busy spreading hate in the society. These people should be slapped with sedition charges and put in jail."

This comes just days after Prime Minister Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called for unity and asked Indians to not discriminate against particular communities.

Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said a community cannot be held responsible for the mistakes of a few. He called for people to help the affected without any discrimination.