Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Tuesday strongly condemned a controversial remark by former BJP MLA Raghavendra Pratap Singh about Muslim women and urged the government to take legal action against those responsible.
In a post on X, Mayawati described the allegedly communal and hateful remark, widely reported as “bring Muslim girls, get a job”, as “despicable” and “narrow-minded.”
She warned that statements and actions framed as opposition to religious conversion or so-called “love jihad”, and the vigilante measures that sometimes follow, are fostering communal and caste-based hatred, unrest and threats to people’s lives, property, and faith across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other states. “These criminal, anarchic and anti-social elements are an open challenge and danger to a civilized and constitutional government,” Mayawati wrote.
She urged governments to protect the interests and welfare of millions of citizens and to uphold the rule of law by taking firm legal action against those who foment communal discord, rather than giving them encouragement or protection.
The controversy stems from a video that went viral on social media showing Raghavendra Pratap Singh, a former BJP MLA from Dumariaganj in Siddharthnagar, making inflammatory comments at a public meeting.
In the clip in question, Singh reportedly boasted that he had “taken” two Hindu girls and challenged members of the Muslim community to “bring ten Muslim girls” in retaliation; he allegedly said that anyone who did so would be provided with jobs and food. The remarks sparked widespread political backlash.
According to reports, Singh has not expressed regret for his comments.