I am BJP's 'Item Girl', They Always Talk About Me: Azam Khan

New Delhi: A day after making controversial statements against the Army, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on Thursday said that he is BJP’s item girl and they don’t have anyone else to talk about. “I am BJP’s item girl. My statement was misconstrued by the media. How can Army's morale fall due to my comment? I am nobody. Army's morale fell when PM Narendra Modi went to Pakistan,” he added.

Khan appeared to make allegations of rape against soldiers on Wednesday. The comments triggered an angry reaction from the ruling BJP, which accused him of “defending terrorists”. “Armed woman attacked soldiers and cut off their private parts. They cut the part they had problems with. India should be ashamed…. How will the country face the world now?” Khan said at a public event in his constituency Rampur.

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh attacked Khan over his comments. “If he has any problem with India then he should go to Pakistan,” Singh said.

In a strong criticism of his comments, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said it shows Khan’s “narrow mindset”. “Azam Khan never treated India as his country…. His allegation that the Indian Army outrages the modesty of our mothers and sisters in Kashmir shows his own narrow mindset. PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump condemned terrorism emanating from Pakistan, but hours later politicians like Azam Khan are defending terrorists,” Patra said.

“I want to ask Khan why (Samajwadi Party patriarch) Mulayam Singh Yadav met Gayatri Prajapati,” Patra said, referring to Samajwadi Party leader accused of rape.

Khan’s comments have landed him in trouble before. He was made to apologise by the Supreme Court for calling the Bulandshahr gang rape case a "political conspiracy".

On May 28, Khan had triggered outrage by saying women should stay indoors to avoid being molested. "After the Bulandshahr incident, everyone should try to keep women of the family indoors. Girls should not go to places where there is naked dance of shamelessness," said Khan, referring to the July 2016 gang-rape of a minor and her mother in Bulandshahr.