BJP MLA triggers row, says Hindustan belongs to Hindus

BJP MLA Vikram Saini also objected to the people celebrating on January 1, saying the country should adopt the Hindu calendar, according to which New Year’s Day is on March 18.

The nation belongs to Hindus as it is called Hindustan, said a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in Uttar Pradesh, triggering a row on Monday after a Union minister’s remarks that the Constitution be changed to remove secularism from it.

BJP MLA Vikram Saini said our nation is called Hindustan and it belongs to Hindus. (ANI Photo)

Vikram Saini, the MLA for Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar, also objected to the people celebrating on January 1, saying the country should adopt the Hindu calendar, according to which New Year’s Day is on March 18.

“I am a hardcore believer of Hindutva. Our nation is called Hindustan which means a nation for Hindus,” he said addressing a programme on the occasion of Maharaja Saini Jayanti at Ramlila Tilla in Muzaffarnagar.

Saini’s remarks came after Union junior minister for employment and skill development Anantkumar Hegde kicked up a storm on December 24 said in Karnataka that people “claiming to be secular and progressive do not have an identity of their parents and their blood”.

He also said: “We are here to change the Constitution.”