BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya is receiving a lot of flak on the internet after his comments about labourers working at his house went viral.

The minister on Thursday said that he suspected that there were some Bangladeshis among construction labourers who were working at his house. Vijayvargiya raised the suspicion at a seminar being held in Indore in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on the basis of the eating habit of the labourers.

Apparently the labourers were eating only poha and he found this behaviour strange and thus suspected them to be "Bangladeshis".

BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya says some of the labourers carrying out construction work at his house recently were likely to be Bangladeshis as they had "strange" eating habits and were consuming only 'poha' (flattened rice) Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 23, 2020

According to PTI Vijayvargiya said at the event, "I suspected these workers were residents of Bangladesh. Two days after I became suspicious, they stopped working at my house. I have not filed any police complaint yet. I only mentioned this incident to warn people."

After Vijayvargiya made the statement, Twitter erupted with responses trolling the minister for judging the labourers’ ethnicity based on their eating habits. Some also pointed out that how poha is a staple and cheap food and often daily wage labourers eat it because that’s the only thing they can afford.

Others just added that how poha is a breakfast staple for many Indians and is loved by a lot of people.

Here’s what Twitter is saying:

My dhobi showed up eating a burger. I think he's American. Kajol Srinivasan (@LOLrakshak) January 24, 2020

If eating poha is the criteria, my dad will be an illegal immigrant every day Teju (@tejujoshi31) January 24, 2020

I did not know that I was eating Bangladeshi food for whole of my life. Kanda-Poha is one of the favourite breakfasts of Maharashtra. Kanda Poha is a precondition of marriage. pic.twitter.com/Lj7VKXH52c The Philosopher Cat (@thekkkattt) January 24, 2020

I literally eat only poha for breakfast. Guess I'm Bangladeshi too. https://t.co/Qjr4mwmW0Q (@Ghair_Kanooni) January 24, 2020

If not Poha, what else you expect labourers to bring with them - Butter chicken? Ravinder Singh (@_RavinderSingh_) January 24, 2020

Chira > Poha. You're talking of Bengalis. But who will tell that to Vijayvargiya. Ananya Bhattacharya (@ananya116) January 24, 2020

Really strange that construction workers in Indore were consuming Poha - a staple & cheap food of Madhya Pradesh -easily available too -

and then we wonder what happened to the Indian growth story - https://t.co/sZhG9od7Uu Yasmin Kidwai (@YasminKidwai) January 24, 2020

Poha is my comfort food. Tagore is my comfort read. Bangla is my comfort language. Guess I start searching for my papers asap. https://t.co/OJRwaqHkTl Sasidharan Pazhoor (@inquestioner) January 24, 2020

I am Punjabi and I am eating poha right now. Poha has nothing to do with Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/eL6KgpQk36 Sapna Madan Care4Animals (@sapnamadan) January 24, 2020

Vada Pav, Kappa (Tapioca) and Poha were considered as the poor man's food.



Vada Pav was the favorite food for the Mill workers of Bombay, while Kappa became a staple diet for the lower caste hindus of Kerala in early 20th century. Advaid (@Advaidism) January 24, 2020

This means you are not paying them well, they could only afford 'poha.' It might sound strange to you,but in Bengal, we don't call it poha! https://t.co/MNyHuxzq5k vijaita singh (@vijaita) January 24, 2020

Now Poha is also anti national Krishna (@Krishna92768756) January 23, 2020

At the seminar, Vijayvargiya also claimed that a Bangladeshi terrorist was keeping a watch on him for the last one and a half years.

"Whenever I go out, six armed security personnel follow me. What is happening in this country? Will outside people enter and spread so much terror?" he asked.

He added, "Don't get confused by rumours. The CAA is in the interest of the country. "

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