Union minister Maneka Gandhi has been caught on camera threatening a few members of the Muslim community to vote for her in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls or face consequences.
The consequences would be the Muslims not receiving any help from her in the unforeseeable future.
Maneka Gandhi was addressing a gathering in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur, where she is contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket.
In the short address, Maneka Gandhi also said she would anyway win the Lok Sabha election from Sultanpur "with or without" Muslim votes.
But if they don't vote for her, 'mann khatta ho jaayega', she said.
"Agar meri jeet Musalmaanon ke bina hogi toh mujhe bahot achchha nahin lagega kyunki itna mein bataa deti hoon ki phir dil khatta ho jata hai. Phir jab Musalmaan aata hai kaam ke liye phir main sochti hoon ki nahin rehne hi do, kya farq padta hai. Aakhir naukri ek saudebaazi bhi toh hoti hai. Baat sahi hai ki nahin? Aisa nahin hai ki hum sab Mahatma Gandhi ki chhatti aulaad hain, ki bass detey hi jaayenge aur elections mein maar khaate hi jaayenge. Ye jeet aapke bina bhi hogi, aapke saath bhi hogi. Aur ye cheez aapko sab jagah phailaani padegi...Samajh gaye aap log?" she says in the video.
This roughly translates to Maneka Gandhi saying, "I will win this election anyway. But if the Muslims don't vote for me, and then they come to me for some work, I will not do it. Why should I do it?"
She further says: "You can ask anyone in Pilibhit about the kind of work I did there. If you feel I haven't done enough, you can decide not to vote for me."
Maneka Gandhi's three-minute speech went viral on social media and led to outrage for its blatant communal content.
The Congress termed Gandhi's statement "scandalous".
Maneka Gandhi is contesting from Sultanpur, a seat won by her son Varun Gandhi in 2014. Varun Gandhi is contesting from his mother's seat Pilibhit.
(With inputs from IANS)
