Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Kerala Suresh Gopi sparked an uproar on Sunday by suggesting that an upper-caste person be made the Minister for Tribal Affairs while someone from the backward castes be appointed as minister for empowerment of upper-caste groups, PTI reported.

Responding to backlash, the actor-turned-politician later withdrew his comments.

“This is another curse of our country that a non-tribal person cannot be the Minister for Tribal Affairs,” Gopi had said while campaigning for the BJP in East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar area, which has a significant Malayali population.

The Assembly elections in Delhi will be held on Wednesday. The votes will be counted on Saturday.

Gopi also said: “It is my wish and dream that an upper-caste person should become the tribal affairs minister for the empowerment of the tribal community. If there is a tribal person, who is supposed to become tribal affairs minister, the person should be made the minister for the empowerment of the upper-caste community. This change should happen in our democratic system.”

“Let a Brahmin or Naidu look after affairs of tribals, there will be a big change,” he added. “I have made this request to Modi ji, but there are certain customs for these things.”

Gopi claimed he had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times, since becoming a Rajya Sabha MP in 2016, that he be made the tribal affairs minister. He is presently Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

From 2019 to 2022, Gopi was part of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

“I had good intentions only and I only said that we should break away from the current system,” Gopi later remarked. “But if you think even my explanation is not correct, then I’m withdrawing it. Continue like this only.”

Communist Party India (Marxist) MP K Radhakrishnan said Gopi’s remarks violated his oath of office.

“The Indian Constitution ensures equality to all people,” said Radhakrishnan, a prominent Dalit face of the party. “He spoke against that equality enshrined in the Constitution. Can Gopi decide who is of noble birth?”

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs was established in 1999 as an offshoot of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and is currently led by Jual Oram, an Adivasi from Odisha.

The Indian government does not have a ministry for the empowerment of dominant castes.