Karnataka minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader KS Eshwarappa on Sunday said that workers of the party had been instructed to hit back at rivals and “take two for one” if attacked, The Hindu reported.

Eshwarappa, who is Karnataka’s rural development and panchayat raj minister, said at a meeting in Shivamogga that the BJP had become stronger now.

“Earlier, when Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers went to open a unit in Kerala, they were assaulted,” he alleged. “Then our leaders used to tell the workers to ‘be calm at all costs’. But, now the situation has changed. Our strength has gone up.”

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The minister added: “If someone attacks our worker, we tell our workers to face them with the same stick and take two for one.”

Eshwarappa alleged that in the past, BJP workers would be murdered in Kerala for speaking about the Hindutva, The Indian Express reported. “We did not have the strength to strike back,” he said, according to the newspaper. “Today, lakhs of people are with the BJP, and when there is a rally for Hindutva, lakhs gather.”

The Opposition criticised Eshwarappa’s comments. Karnataka Congress working President Saleem Ahmed demanded the minister’s immediate removal from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s Cabinet, according to The Indian Express.

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Afsar Kodipet, the spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party of India, said the minister was not even worthy of being an MLA, The Indian Express reported. “The Speaker must expel him from the Legislature, the chief minister must drop him from the Cabinet, and the governor should intervene and ensure peace and stability in the state,” he added.

Defending his comments, Eshwarappa claimed that his intention was to talk about the BJP’s growth, The Hindu reported. “Do you expect us to sit quietly when our workers are attacked?” he asked. “We have lost many of workers till the recent years. Our workers were killed when they went to protect cows. The Congress lost the election because of such murders.”