Javadekar terms Vijayvargiya's remarks on poha non-issue, says he eats it too

New Delhi [India], Jan 24 (ANI): After BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya stoked controversy by suspecting a person consuming 'poha' to be a Bangladeshi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday called it a non-issue and said he also eats flattened rice.

"I also eat poha and serve it to you (journalists). So it's a non-issue," said Javadekar on being asked about the comments made by the BJP leader.
Vijayvargiya at an event in support of Citizenship Amendment Act in Madhya Pradesh's Indore had said that he suspected some of the construction labourers working at his house were Bangladeshis as they only ate 'poha', which aroused suspicion about their nationality.

The BJP leader is facing a lot of flak on social media for his comments.

"If eating poha is the criteria, my dad will be an illegal immigrant every day," Teju, a Twitter user wrote.

"I did not know that I was eating Bangladeshi food for the whole of my life. Kanda poha is one of the favourite breakfasts of Maharashtra. Kanda poha is a precondition of marriage," another Twitterati wrote.

Taking a dig at BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya over his 'poha' remark, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that labourers should only eat "halwa" as then only will they be called "Bharat ka shehri" (citizen of India). Else, they will be called Bangladeshi, he remarked.

"Labourers should not have poha but only HALWA and HALWA and will be called Indian, Bharat ka Shehri otherwise B.......... hope '9 pm nationalist' will not take offence," Owaisi tweeted. (ANI)