In a series of tweets, the BJP leader said that despite the actor’s films earning crores in India, he could only see intolerance in the country. Vijayvargiya claimed that the anti-national forces were attempting to spread the theory that intolerance was on the rise in India to oppose the nation getting a seat on the UN Security Council and the actor was merely singing to their tune. “When the 1993 bomb blasts took place where was Shah Rukh Khan? When the 26/11 attacks took place in Mumbai, where was Shah Rukh Khan?” he tweeted.

Source: Kailash Vijayvargiya’s Facebook page

The BJP leader claimed that while the world admired Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the claims that intolerance was rising in India was merely a way of weakening the nation on the world stage.

Here’s what he tweeted:

शाहरुख़ खान रहते भारत में हैं पर उनका मन सदा पाकिस्तान में रहता है। उनकी फिल्मों यहाँ करोड़ो कमाती है पर उन्हें भारत असहिष्णु नजर आता है 1/5

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 3, 2015

यह देशद्रोह नहीं तो क्या? भारत संयुक्त-राष्ट्र का स्थाई सदस्य बनने को है, पाक समेत सभी भारत विरोधी ताकते इसके विरुद्ध षड्यंत्र रच रही है 2/5

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 3, 2015

भारत मे असहिष्णुता का माहौल बनाना षडयंत्र का हिस्सा है। शाहरुख़ ने ‘असहिष्णुता का राग’ पाक व भारत विरोधी ताकतों के सुर में सुर मिलाना है 3/5

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 3, 2015

जब 1993 में बॉम्बे में सेकड़ों लोग मारे गये तब शाहरुख़ खान कहाँ थे? जब मुम्बई पर 26/11 को हमला हुआ तब शाहरुख़ कहाँ थे? 4/5

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 3, 2015

आज सारी दुनिया भारत व उसके नेतृत्व का मान कर रही है, ऐसे में यहाँ असहिष्णुता बढ़ने की बात करना, दुनिया के समक्ष भारत को कमजोर करना होगा। 5/5

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 3, 2015

The BJP attempted to do some damage control with Union Minister Prakash Javadekar saying that Vijayvargiya wasn’t a party spokesperson, reported the Indian Express .

The Congress questioned how Khan could be called Pakistani if he was from a family of freedom fighters.

“This hasn’t been told only by Shah Rukh, it has been said by many people in the country that the intolerance is rising. Is the President a Pakistani, is the RBI Governor a Pakistani. Are all those protesting artists Pakistanis?” Alvi told ANI .

All of this seemed to have an effect, albeit a bit late. On Wednesday morning the BJP leader said that his tweets on the superstar had been misunderstood.

Source: PTI

“If there was any intolerance in India then Shah Rukh wouldn’t have become the most popular star after Amitabh. Some people have misunderstood my tweet,” he said.

He said that he didn’t intend to offend anyone and was ‘withdrawing his tweets’. However, he chose not to delete the tweets, presumably in case anyone still wanted to read them.

अगर भारत में असहिष्णुता होती तो अमिताभ के बाद सर्वाधिक लोकप्रिय अभिनेता शाहरुख़ न होते, मेरे ट्वीट को कुछ लोगो ने अलग अर्थो में लिया है। 1/2

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 4, 2015

मेरा उद्देश्य किसी को भी ठेस पहुँचाना कतई नहीं था। मैं अपना कल का ट्वीट वापिस लेता हूँ। 2/2

— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) November 4, 2015

Vijayvargiya is hardly new to controversy. He made headlines when he spoke about the mysterious death of a journalist who was covering the Vyapam scam and asked whether the journalist was more important than he was. He was pulled up by party president Amit Shah for his comments.

But then this isn’t the first time that someone has said that those commenting on a contentious issue should go to Pakistan. Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in a heated deabte had said those who wanted to eat beef could go to Pakistan.