BJP leader tells Owaisi to leave India if he won't chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'

In the wake of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party chief Asaduddin Owaisi's statement that he would not raise slogan of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' to prove his loyalty to the nation, Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday said those who did want to say the slogan had no right to stay in India.

"I feel that those who don't want to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai has no right to stay in India. They should go to some other country," Vijayvargiya told reporters in New Delhi.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said it is extremely unfortunate that some 'shameful' people have expressed their opposition to raising pro-national slogans.

"India is our mother and no one should have objection to pay obeisance to mother. It is the misfortune of the country that some people object to it. They are shameless. Some parties are backing such forces, it is unfortunate. There no need to pressurize anyone or there is no need of a law to respect our mother," Naidu told the media here.

An adamant Owaisi had on Monday said backed his earlier remark and said that he has not violated any law.

"I stand by my statement. Why should I raise such a slogan to prove my loyalty to this country? I have not violated any law," Owaisi told ANI on Monday.

Rejecting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion for chanting the slogan to infuse patriotism, Owaisi had on Monday said he would not say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a knife was put to his throat prompting the Shiv Sena to tell him that he should go to Pakistan.

The RSS chief had earlier said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India. Bhagwat's comments came against the backdrop of the row over alleged anti-India sloganeering in the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on February 9.