You are lying, says Anurag Thakur on hate chant

Chandigarh: Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday said strict action should be taken against those involved in the violence in north-east Delhi that claimed over 40 lives. But he said he was not involved in delivering a hate speech.

Refuting that he has ever raised controversial “shoot the traitors” chant in the run-up to elections in Delhi, Thakur said: “You are lying.”

“I think sometimes there is lack of information in the media too regarding the way some things are projected,” he replied to the media here on being asked about his hate speech that was also blamed for flaring up the violence.

Asking the media to limit their questionnaire to his department only, the BJP leader replied: “The matter is sub-judice. You should have full facts. Half-baked truth is dangerous — be it the propaganda of media or somebody else. I feel that you guys should have complete knowledge.”

“What clarification you want on this? Strict action should be taken against those who are accused of inciting the riots and were involved in riots,” he said.

“From Monday, Parliament session will begin, questions are raised there also from economy to various other issues and on that platform, answers will be given on various matters,” an angry Thakur said.

“If you have questions on the economy, you should ask those,” he summed up.

The Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs was interacting with the media after meeting stakeholders from trades and industries during an interactive session organised by the Income Tax Department.

Saying the police was on the job in Delhi, Thakur said: “Strict action should be taken against those involved in the riots. The strength of our country is that people of various faiths coexist and live unitedly contributing towards building the nation.”

On the economy front, he replied the government is determined to make India the third largest economy by 2025 with all-out efforts of Team India.

The recently launched initiative ‘Vivaad se Vishwas’ aimed at substantially reducing the litigation in the Income Tax Department, he said.

IANS