BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has targeted actor Shah Rukh Khan in the past too.
Highlights
- 'Raees' who aren't loyal to country are of no use: Kailash Vijayvargiya
- BJP says he was merely indulging in word play to comment on black money
- In 2015, Mr Vijayvargiya had targeted Shah Rukh Khan, retracted later
The BJP has said that its senior leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, known for making controversial remarks, was indulging in word play to make a comment on black money when he seemed to attack actor Shah Rukh Khan in a tweet now pinned to the politician's Twitter page.
Mr Vijayvargiya, 60, seemed to have weighed in on Shah Rukh Khan's
Raees versus Hrithik Roshan's
Kaabil, two films releasing on the same day in a mega clash this week, when he tweeted, "Those
Raees (rich) who are not loyal to the country are of no use. We should all support a
Kaabil (able) patriot."
The BJP's Shaina NC said today that Mr Vijayvargiya has expressed his own views and there is "no controversy attached to party." She said the tweet attacked dishonest people and promoted the "able" and pointed out that it makes no mention of Shah Rukh Khan or Hritihik Roshan. "It was a tongue in cheek comment on black money...it was metaphoric, philosophical...the larger picture is that he is giving his view on the notes ban actually," said the BJP spokesperson.
A poster appended to the tweet features Mr Vijayvargiya and celebrates Prime Minister Narendra Modi's war on corruption and black or undeclared money.
Mr Vijayvargiya has not offered any explanation on what he meant. But he has in the past attacked Shah Rukh Khan, like when he had tweeted, "Shah Rukh Khan lives in India, but his heart is in Pakistan. His films make crores here but he finds India intolerant." That was in 2015, amid a nationwide debate on intolerance and Mr Vijayvargiya had retracted the tweets after severe criticism, including by his own party.
The Madhya Pradesh politician, who is a national general secretary of the BJP, had at that time tried to undo the damage by saying, "Shah Rukh wouldn't have been the most popular actor after Amitabh (Bachchan) had India been intolerant. My tweets were misunderstood by some."
Raees features Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and Shah Rukh Khan had last month met Maharashtra Narvnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, seen as a preventive measure after huge protests last year against Pakistani actors being allowed to work in India.