Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was campaigning for a BJP candidate from the Indian city of Thane in Maharashtra, where election polls are due to be held on 21 October.
To solicit the support of voters for the BJP, which exists with a lotus flower as an election symbol, Maurya said: “If people press the lotus symbol, it will mean a nuclear bomb has been automatically dropped on Pakistan”.
“Kindly vote for BJP and make our party win once again in Maharashtra state. I believe lotus will definitely bloom in the upcoming elections”, he added.
The minister’s remark left the netizens flabbergasted, taking to Twitter to slam him with the most amusing reactions, trolling him on the social media platform.
Several users mocked him by saying that “the war would now begin at polling booths”, while another said, “why to purchase rafale jets if a vote can evade Pakistan [sic]”.
Please suggest a button by pressing which bomb drops on Keshav Prasad ji
— Gurunadha rao ksv (@rao_ksv) October 14, 2019
When will this dumbfuckery stop? Do these warmongering clowns understand the consequences of a war?
— Amit Sharma (@iTrueToo) October 14, 2019
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, while campaigning in Maharashtra: 'When you press the button to vote for the BJP, you automatically launch a nuclear bomb on Pakistan'. Seriously, what do these guys smoke?
— Mandeep Singh Bajwa (@MandeepBajwa) October 14, 2019
And people would rather drop a bomb than get a job, education, health-care, etc. How brainwashed are we? #boycottmodia
— Einstein Gravity (@krishkalavt) October 14, 2019
Others, meanwhile, pointed out the implications to him of a nuclear attack.
Respected sir do you have any idea what will a nuclear war mean, even if all bombs are fired from India and dropped in Pakistan !?
— Prashant Rathaur (@RathaurPrashant) October 14, 2019
The likes of him should be taken to Hiroshima and Nagasaki on a educational & awareness trip immediately so that they understand the implications of alluring to a nuclear attack on any section of humanity...unbecoming of an Indian
— ABNCongress (@AbnCong) October 14, 2019
There were also those who called him out for neglecting the issues of employment, health, and education as agendas for the election manifesto, preferring instead to use warmongering to attract votes.
dropping nuclear bomb on Pakistan will solve all of India’s problems. Our economy will automatically revive, women will be safe, environment pollution will also end. We will become the most developed nation in the world. It’s possible, you see, Delusion can make anything possible
— Sugandha Sawhney (@SawhneySugandha) October 14, 2019
For winning election he uses nuclear bomb & our entire law institutes & EC are watching is it not a breach of code of conduct ?? This stupid leaders are just trying to create violent atmosphere , public should reject BJP as they did nothing & destroyed nations economy
— K SHRIRAM MURTY (@murtyvss) October 14, 2019
The matter has become a strong talking point for both the governing BJP and opposition parties, since ties between the two nuclear-armed nations of India and Pakistan became strained due to New Delhi’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on 5 August.
