Minister of State (MoS) Finance Anurag Thakur on Sunday told a reporter that they were lying, when asked by the scribe if he had ever raised 'desh ke ghaddaron ko...' slogan during the Delhi assembly elections. "You are lying. You people should first enhance your knowledge," Thakur was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

#WATCH Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur, when reporters say he raised 'desh ke ghaddaron ko...' slogan during Delhi elections: You are lying. You people should first enhance your knowledge. Half knowledge is dangerous.Matter is sub judice so I'm not commenting further pic.twitter.com/tWPxnRuIVp

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2020

"Half knowledge is dangerous. The matter is sub judice so I'm not commenting further," he added.

The remarks by the MP from Himachal Pradesh came as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) categorically stated on Friday that it didn't approve of these remarks. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted during a party presser that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also disapproved of such incendiary remarks.

Three BJP leaders, namely Anurag Thakur, Delhi MP Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra, have been facing the heat of the opposition for allegedly making remarks that may well have fed into the violence that hit northeast Delhi this week. At least 42 persons are reported to be dead in the one of the worst riots in the National Capital's history since the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984.