Cricketer Virat Kohli married actor Anushka Sharma in Italy's Tuscany last week.
A day before Virat Kohli returned from his honeymoon, he got an unexpected 'wedding present' from a BJP lawmaker: an "unpatriotic" tag -- because he chose to get married abroad. His picture-perfect wedding with Anushka Sharma in Tuscany, which has been the toast of fans for days, has irked a BJP lawmaker from Madhya Pradesh. Now, their fans are upset with the lawmaker, Pannalal Shakya, and the Congress is adding fuel to the fire.
This morning, senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala tweeted:
Mr Shakya, 57-year-old first-time legislator from Guna, was addressing students at a "Skill India Centre" when he made a little detour from the subject.
Virat Kohli, he said, doesn't deserve to be called a youth icon because he got married in Italy. "Lord Rama as well as Lord Krishna got married on this land. None of us goes to a foreign country to get married. He earned money here and spent billions there ... he doesn't have any respect for the country. This proves he is not a patriot."
Twitter did not agree. Some jeered at politicians and issued messages of support to the cricketer..
Others appealed to the Prime Minister, asking that he intervene in such cases and speak on behalf of the citizens. And some users appeared to be worried about their own status.
State Congress spokesperson Manak Agarwal said, "The BJP should take action against such people".
The BJP has distanced itself from Mr Sakya's remarks. Party's spokesperson Rahul Kothari said: "It's their personal choice. The party has nothing to do with it".
The lawmaker, however, is standing by his statement. In a telephonic conversation with NDTV he argued that hockey legend Dhyan Chand had rejected titles from foreign countries and insisted that Virat Kohli does not deserve to be a role model for youth.