Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Wednesday said in the Bihar Assembly that no one can deny voting rights to Muslims, reported The Indian Express.

“Let me first make it clear that no mai ka laal [no one] can take away voting rights of the country… When [Chief Minister] Nitish Kumar was with us, he used to warn against such elements,” he said.

Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in Bihar made the reference after Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Haribhushan Thakur said that Muslims should be denied voting rights in India.

The MLA from Bihar’s Bisfi constituency had told reporters last week: “As Muslims were given a separate country at the time of Partition in 1947, they should leave for Pakistan. And if they live in India, they should live like second-class citizens. We urge the government to take away Muslims’ voting rights.”

On Wednesday, Yadav said he was surprised that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had not criticised the comment made by an MLA of his alliance partner.

“Let me first make it clear that no ‘mai ka laal’ can take away voting rights of the country…When Nitish Kumar was with us, he used to warn against such elements,” he said.

He then said that Thakur’s comment had put the voting rights of BJP leader and state Cabinet minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain and Chief Secretary Amir Subhani under contention.

“Shahnawaz bhai, your citizenship is at stake...The chief secretary can lose his voting rights,” Yadav said, according to The Indian Express.

In response, Hussain said that the Constitution can give the right to citizenship, but it has no provisions to take it away.

Meanwhile, the Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has issued a showcause notice to Thakur asking him to explain his remarks. Chief Minister Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United) has described his comments as “preposterous and inflammatory”.