Ananthkumar Hegde compares Oppn to animals, says crows, monkeys and others have come together

Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde has sparked yet another controversy by indirectly comparing Opposition parties to animals and said they have come together against the tiger.

Hegde made the comment while addressing party workers in Karnataka's Karwar.

"On one side crows, monkeys, foxes, and others have come together, On the other side, we have a tiger. In 2019, choose to elect the tiger," reported ANI quoting Ananthkumar Hegde.

Attacking grand-old-party, Hegde also told the audience that if BJP had ruled for 70 years, they would have been sitting on silver chairs instead of plastic.

Reacting to Minister's remark, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said, "The tiger has become wild and has to be sent back to the forest."

Hegde, a five-time Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada, is no stranger to controversies.

In January 2018, Hegde stirred a hornet's nest by comparing Dalits to dogs. "We are stubborn people. When dogs bark on the road, we don't care." However, he clarified that the remark was made against the 'so-called intellectuals' who were critical of his political stand on various issues.

In February 2018, Hegde stirred controversy by saying that only those from Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga speak chaste Kannada. The others, he said, were not speaking Kannada at all. "Even Bengaluru and Mysuru people do not know how to speak proper Kannada."

In December 2017, he kicked up controversy by mocking 'secularists' and saying the BJP would change the Constitution in days to come. "Those who consider themselves secular and intellectual do not have 'their own identity' and they were also unaware of their parentage."