Union Minister of State for Micro, small and medium enterprises Giriraj Singh on Monday set off a new controversy by seeking a debate over redefinition of the minority in the country, sparking strong protests from the ruling coalition headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar. Especially the RJD led by Lalu Prasad mounted heavy attacks on the minister for his remark.

“There should be a fresh debate as to who is a minority in the country,” asked Singh, speaking to newsmen in Gaya. Asking the Muslims to shed the minority tag, Singh wondered how Muslims in many districts of Bihar are in a majority while they love to be identified as the minority.

Seeking a fresh debate over who should be accorded the minority status, the minister cited a recent report of the Pew Research Centre predicting that India will have the biggest Muslim population by 2050.

“By 2050, the study projects India to be the country with the largest number of Muslims—more than 310 million—even though Hindus will continue to make up a solid majority of India’s population (77 percent) while Muslims remain a minority (18 percent),” claims a latest study from the Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan American “fact tank” providing basic information on social issues, public opinions, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.

Even as his views got instant support from the party, the ruling party leaders launched blistering attacks on the minister for his “divisive” move.

“He always talks non-sense and doesn’t deserve to be a minister,” remarked RJD chief Prasad. His son and deputy chief minister in the Nitish Kumar government, Tejashwi Yadav alleged the Union minister was making such remarks under his desperate bids to “communalise” the ongoing assembly elections in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and get the support of the majority Hindu voters.

Another senior RJD minister and minority affairs minister Abdul Ghafoor accused Mr Singh of making such remarks out of desperation. “The BJP is losing UP polls and hence its leaders are making such comments”, he alleged.