‘Hindu women must have at least 4 kids’

The controversial statement from the saffron-clad Sakshi Maharaj, who is a MP from Unnao, came while he was addressing a gathering of saints at the second Sant Samagam Mahotsava in Meerut on Tuesday evening. He said, “Now that the good days have come, we will not allow four wives and forty children in the country.” On the context of conversion, he said, “Neither me nor my party is in favour of it and I suggest that a special law should be enacted against conversion. But it is also a fact that there is nothing wrong in Ghar Wapsi.”

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi busy in the midst of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the statement came as an embarrassment to the BJP. Immediately Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Laxmikant Vajpayee on the instruction of Central leadership intervened and asked Sakshi Maharaj to maintain restraint in speech.

“It was a clear message from the high command that no one should make any controversial statement,” he told media persons, while admitting that Sakshi Maharaj too was directed to restrain himself from making such comments. This is not for the first time when his statement has put the Modi government in trouble. Earlier, he described Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a ‘patriot’ but later apologised for his comments.