Former Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Pravin Togadia said on Tuesday that Muslims should not have a minority status and that the community should be made to follow a two-child norm, PTI reported.

“The status of minority [for Muslims] should be withdrawn,” Togadia said in Jaipur. “A two-child policy should be there to control their population. The money collected from taxpayers should not be spent [only] on them, it should instead be utilised for the welfare of all poor and needy people.”

He said a new outfit he launched last month – the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, literally “International Hindu Council” – will create a vote bank of 20 crore Hindus in the country to influence politics in a democratic manner.

Togadia quit the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in April after his nominee could not win the election for the post of president.

Togadia said his new outfit will focus on the Hindutva agenda and work towards ensuring quality education, employment opportunities, protection of labourers and minimum support price for crops. He criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre for failing to tackle problems such as inflation, farmer suicides, unemployment and women safety.

“Farmers are committing suicide, youth are jobless and soldiers are also facing stone-pelting and trouble at borders and this needs attention,” Togadia said. Nothing is being done to check inflation and fuel prices, he added.