Those who have indulged in corruption in the recruitment scam are sinners, said Firhad Hakim.
Senior West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Monday claimed that some leaders of the Triinamool Congress have indulged in corruption, and it does not mean the entire party is corrupt.
Mr Hakim, an influential leader who holds multiple posts in the administration and is considered close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said that the leaders who take money for "giving" jobs to people should rather "eat the flesh of their mothers".
The comment comes amid the arrest of several TMC leaders and state ministers in the school recruitment irregularities.
"Yes, there are some people who have indulged in corruption, but that doesn't mean that the entire party is corrupt," Mr Hakim, who is the state's urban development minister and the mayor of Kolkata, said.
"Those who have indulged in corruption in the recruitment scam are sinners. Such sinners should rather have the flesh of their mothers than take money in exchange for providing jobs to unemployed youths," he said.
Mr Hakim's comment drew sharp reactions from not only the opposition but also from within his own party.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "What was he doing when the corruption was taking place? Why was he silent then? This attempt to pretend that some people are very honest is ridiculous." Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said that Hakim's statement was a ploy to "fool the people of the state" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
"When corruption was happening, everybody was busy having their own share of the flesh. Now, ahead of the elections, they are behaving as if they knew nothing," Mr Ghosh said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)