BJP's Kailash Vijayvargiya targets Shah Rukh Khan over Raees, again

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday targeted superstar Shah Rukh Khan again and virtually compared him with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, after the death of a person at Vadodara railway station during the promotional tour of the actor's movie Raees.

It is the second attack on Khan by Vijayvargiya, the BJP national general secretary, within a week.

One man — social activist Farid Khan Pathan of Hatikhana area of Vadodara — died, and two others got injured as the crowd went berserk to catch a glimpse of Shah Rukh at the railway station.

The actor was en route from Mumbai to Delhi on board August Kranti Rajdhani Express.

Raees review: Typical underworld entertainer with high dose of Shah Rukh Khan

Commenting on the incident, Vijayvargiya on Tuesday told reporters: "If Dawood Ibrahim comes on the streets, there would be a crowd to see him ... You can't gauge the popularity on the basis of crowd. I will not comment further... People have understood what it means (sic)."

Shah Rukh plays a gangster in his latest movie Raees, which is releasing on Wednesday — the day when Hrithik Roshan starrer Kaabil is also scheduled for release.

Vijayvargiya also gave the incident a political twist when on Tuesday he tweeted an image reading: "If one is 'kaabil' (which literally means capable), even a 'chaiwallah' (tea vendor) can become a Prime Minister. Otherwise even a 'raees' (wealthy person) born with a silver spoon wears torn clothes."

Vijayvargiya's snide remark alluded to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who on January 16, while speaking at Vijay Sankalp rally of party workers in Uttarkhand's Rishikesh town, showed the torn pocket of his trademark white kurta to the crowd.

Gandhi followed it with the remark with: "Mera kurta phata hua hai, lekin Modiji ka kurta kabhi phata hua nahi milta. Bade paisewalon ke saath unki photo milegi (My kurta is torn, but you'll never find Modiji's kurta torn. You will only spot him in pictures with uber rich.)

Vijayvargiya, who is known for his controversial remarks, had last week clearly took sides with Hrithik Roshan starrer Kaabil and derided Khan's Raees.

On 21 January, the BJP leader tweeted: "Now it's the turn of the country's 'kaabil' citizens. No 'raees' can take away merit from the 'kaabil'."

"The Raees that couldn't be of its own country is of no good, and we should all support a 'kaabil' patriot."

It should be noted that Raees faced controversy earlier over Pakistani artistes in it, including the film's lead heroine Mahira Khan.