A BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh has been caught on tape threatening a Muslim vegetable seller for not telling his real name and then asking him to stay away from the politician’s locality, a day after another legislator of the ruling party in the same state advised people not to buy vegetables from Muslim vendors.
Brijbhushan Rajput, the MLA of Charkhari in Mahoba district who later declared that one of his aides had initially sought to see the vendor’s Aadhaar card, can be heard using an expletive and scolding the seller for telling a lie “despite being a Muslim”.
In the video, the legislator is heard asking the vendor his name, to which he replies Rajkumar. The MLA then asks the vendor’s son to tell the older man’s real name. When the vendor’s son gives his father’s name as Azizur Rehman, the MLA gets angry.
“Aaj ke baad mohalle mein dikh na jaana tum log... nahi to maar maar ke theek kardenge (if you people are seen in the locality after today, you will be thrashed and fixed),” Rajput is heard saying.