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Nitesh Rane, Maharashtra minister and the son of former Union Minister Narayan Rane, has sparked another controversy calling Kerala a "mini Pakistan" during his attempts to target Congress's Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, elected to Lok Sabha from Wayanad. Called out by the Opposition, he clarified that while Kerala is part of India, he compared it to Pakistan because of the incidents of "love jihad" and religious conversions that occur in the state.
"Kerala is mini Pakistan that is why Rahul Gandhi and his sister are elected from there. All terrorists vote for them. This is the truth, you can ask. They have become MPs after taking terrorists with them," Mr Rane was quoted as saying earlier by news agency ANI.
The Opposition leaders lost no time in condemning his remarks.
"What else can one expect from Nitesh Rane?" fumed Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe.
"He has been elected to do this only. However, I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Devendra Fadnavis. The person (Nitesh Rane), who is a minister, has taken an oath of the Constitution to (maintain) the sovereignty and unity of India. Now, he is labelling one of the country's states as Pakistan. He is calling the voters there as 'terrorists.' Should he have the right to remain in the ministerial position? This is my question to you,' he added.
"The BJP leaders are worried since PM Modi won only by a lakh votes, they are not able to digest Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's win,' Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
As the matter snowballed, Mr Rane issued a clarification.
"Kerala is very much part of India. However, the decreasing population of Hindus is something everyone should worry about. The religious conversion of Hindus into Muslims and Christians (Islam and Christianity) has become an everyday thing there," he said.
Mr Rane is no stranger to controversy. In September, he sparked a row with provocative speeches in which he allegedly threatened to hit Muslims and a police case was filed against him.
He has had a defamation suit filed against him by Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut.
The Navi Mumbai police filed a case against him for allegedly using the word 'Dalit' while speaking to a news channel.