Udit Raj, a Bharatiya Janata Party MP from New Delhi as well as a Dalit leader, revealed Olympic legend Usain Bolt's diet habits, mentioning the star sprinter from Jamaica consumed beef twice a day. Nothing bad to state a fact, but the Member of Parliament hardly realised that he would face heat soon after stating the information.
The mere reason: Call it a fortune or misfortune, but Raj should have known that he belonged to the BJP, a political party that is toeing the safety line when it comes to publicly speaking of anything that is related to beef.
"Usain bolt of Jamaica was poor and trainer advised him to eat beef both the times and he scored 9 gold medals in Olympic [sic]," the Lok Sabha member from North-West Delhi, tweeted.
However, the 55-year-old learnt that what he had done couldn't be undone. Merely deleting the tweet wouldn't stop it from going viral as trolls had already started attacking him in full force. Therefore, Raj came up with a series of tweets soon after to clarify what he actually meant.
On Monday morning, the BJP MP revealed that he actually meant that India might have less infrastructure, but that doesn't prevent an athlete from prospering in the grand stage. Something that Indian star gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna from President Pranab Mukherjee in the day, has been saying for long.
"I cited circumstances ofJamaica that despite poor infrastructure & poverty Bolt won 9 gold so our players should find ways like that to win," Dr. Raj tweeted on Monday. "I intended to convey-players & society to look at ways to win in games rather blaming circumstances & Govt & eating is their choice. As usain bolt &trainer found ways and means to win medals similarly our players and trainers should do as per their circumstances [sic]."
The infrastructure part was fine and no doubt, Indian athletes are definitely giving their all to prosper despite intense hardship. But what about the beef part? "My tweet is not even remotely connected to advocate beef eating rather it is reproduction of Bolt trainer statement," the politician tweeted.
Snubbing cow vigilantes and the right-wing activists in a separate one-on-one, Udit Raj also mentioned earlier in the day that he was actually in favour of Indians consuming beef as it was protein-rich. "In favour of Indians eating beef, BJP too has never said don't eat anything," he told CNN News 18. "Usain Bolt was poor but had dedication,he ate beef because it's a source of protein."
While he may have clarified his statements, Raj must be wary of not going too over the line with the issue, as he could face his party's wrath. In February this year, Anwar Mev, a BJP minority leader from Madhya Pradesh, was expelled by the political party and booked under the National Security Act after three bags of beef and the carcass of a cow were reportedly found in his house by right-wing activists.
For now, the party may not have come out with an official statement but the twitterati, no doubt, have got a major talking point over Raj's point of view.
