It’s a season of sports gaffes as far as Indian politicians, especially from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are concerned. A day after Sports Minister Vijay Goel scripted history by calling PV Sidhu and Sakshi Malik as “gold medallists”, party’s MP and Dalit leader Udit Raj took it a notch higher claiming that champion Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt went on to win nine Olympics gold despite being born in poverty after his trainer advised him to eat beef twice a day.
"Usain Bolt of Jamaica was poor and trainer advised him to eat beef both the times and he scored 9 gold medals in Olympics," the Lok Sabha member from North West Delhi tweeted.
The comments drew instant flak on social media with many terming his remarks as “inappropriate” and “illogical”.
Here is how twitteratis reacted on MP Udit Raj’s epic suggestion.
Beef is an emotive issue for BJP whose governments in various states have come out with tough laws banning its trade.
Udit Raj, however, tried to play down any controversy saying that he merely repeated what Bolt's trainer had said and all he meant was the athletes can find a way to excel despite adversities and they should not blame circumstances for their failures.
"All I wanted to say that giving excuses that we don't have infrastructure or there is corruption should be done away with and lesson, dedication should be learnt from Usain Bolt... What I wanted to say is our players should find ways and means as he found ways and means," he said, adding there is no lack of facilities for sports persons here.
Raj said that his tweet was not even remotely connected to advocate beef eating.
Government spends a huge amount of money on them compared to nations like Jamaica or Kenya, he said, steering clear of any mention of beef.
(With PTI inputs)
