Giriraj Singh makes this vow on population control

New Delhi, Nov 18: Union Minister Giriraj Singh has said he would retire from politics "the day the legislation was enacted to control population" in the country.

The firebrand BJP leader, while talking to reporters on Saturday, claimed that two of his long-cherished dreams -- Centre scrapping Kashmir's special provisions and the apex court verdict for Ram temple construction at Ayodhya -- have been recently fulfilled.

"It's time I take retirement from politics as two of my wishes have been fulfilled. I will make an exit the day a bill is enacted to control population," he said.

Singh, a minister of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries in the Narendra Modi-led government, had been pitching for stringent legislation to control the burgeoning population in the country.

He had thanked the Assam government when it came out with its two-child policy, which entailed that people with more than two kids will not be eligible for government jobs in the northeast state.

Opposing the move, Lok Sabha member and president of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Badruddin Ajmal, had said the Assam government's policy would not stop Muslims from making babies.

Taking a dig at the Assam parliamentarian, Singh, who has often courted controversies for his remarks, said, "Is Islam a factory to produce children?"

The BJP MP, at a Delhi seminar in September, had likened India's growing population to "second-stage cancer" and called for strong measures to control it.

Asked about the BJP's plans for 2020 Bihar polls, he said the party's national president, Amit Shah, has made it clear that Assembly polls would be fought under the leadership of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and the saffron party members would work accordingly.