Haryana Minister Anil Vij compares Rahul Gandhi to Nipah virus

Haryana Cabinet Minister Anil Vij who is known for making controversial statements has now compared Congress President Rahul Gandhi to deadly Nipah Virus.

"Rahul Gandhi is equal to Nipah virus. A political party which will come in contact with him will be finished," Vij said in a tweet.

राहुल गांधी #निपाह वायरस के समान है । जो भी राजनीतिक पार्टी इसके सम्पर्क में आएगी वह फना हो जाएगी ।

— ANIL VIJ MINISTER HARYANA (@anilvijminister) May 27, 2018

Earlier this month, Vij had reportedly said that Bhagat Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai made supreme sacrifice for the country, unlike Nehru and Gandhi who did not bear even a single stick.

Last year the minister had said the decision of making Rahul Gandhi as the Congress president would help Prime Minister Narendra Modi in making India "Congress Free."

He had also said that it was good to know that Rahul Gandhi uses the same plate to feed his dog and those who visit his home. He doesn't discriminate between his own dog and Congress workers. 

The virus has so far claimed 13 lives in Kerala.

The outbreak of the Nipah virus infection, a newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans, is suspected to be from an unused well at Perambra in Kerala's Kozhikode district which was infested with bats.

The natural host of the virus is believed to be fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus. So far there is no vaccine against the virus which was first identified in 1998 in Kampung Sungai Nipah, Malaysia.