Agra: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has racked up yet another controversy in the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh after he called on the Hindus to increase their population, saying that their dwindling number in the country is a matter of grave concern.

“When people from another faith (read Muslims) are producing so many children why can't the Hindus? Is there a law which says not to increase population?” he asked.

The RSS chief said that there is no such law that is preventing Hindus to produce more children. He called on them to produce more children.

“The issue is not related to governance. It's a question of our social structure. In our society, you have to think about yourself, about your family and about your national interest.

“These three issues should be your top priority and there should be progress in all of them,” he said at a conference of teachers from Agra. The state will go to polls next year.

Congress leader Sandip Dikshit hit out at Bhagat for the comments and said if such a thing would happen there would be a lot of upheaval in the society.

“There will be hunger and unemployment and there will not be adequate resources with the government to deal with the situation,” he said.

“As far as the Muslim population is concerned, there has been a decrease in their population over a period of time,” he added.