Union minister Anantkumar Hegde on Wednesday made another controversial remark, claiming that Congress President Rahul Gandhi is a “hybrid specimen” with a Muslim father and a Christian mother, PTI reported.

On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader had called Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao “a guy who ran behind a Muslim lady” – a reference to Rao’s wife Tabassum Rao. Gandhi had then said Hegde was an “embarrassment to every Indian” and unfit to be a Union minister.

Two days later, at an event in Uttara Kannada, Hedge said: “Rahul Gandhi’s father is a Muslim, the mother is Christian but he is a Brahmin? How is this possible? Such a hybrid breed is not available in any laboratory in the world. This is available only in the Congress laboratory of our country.”

The minister’s statement was a reference to a Hindu priest’s claim in November 2018 that Gandhi’s “gotra was Dattatreya” and that the Congress chief is a Kashmiri Brahmin.

Hegde accused Gandhi of lying in his accusations against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. “There is a limit to lying,” Hegde said.

Hegde’s earlier comment about Gundu Rao had followed his statement that “if a Hindu girl is touched by a hand, then that hand should not exist”. Gundu Rao then tweeted: “What are your contributions for Karnataka’s development? All I can say for sure, it’s deplorable that such people have become and have managed to get elected as MPs.”