Bengaluru: Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde found himself in the eye of another storm by comparing Dalits to dogs. The incident took place on Saturday afternoon at Bellary where Hegde inaugurated a job fair. On his way, his car was blocked by Dalit activists who were protesting against his remark over amending the Constitution which led to a countrywide uproar.

After the function, Hegde said, "Our government has come to help the distressed and needy. We will stand by the people and are unfazed by those who bark like street dogs."

Hegde's remark didn't go down well with actor Prakash Raj who took him on and questioned the BJP leadership as to whether it endorsed this sort of abuse by the minister. Prakash Raj also asked BJP leaders to ease Hegde out of his post. This is the actor's tweet.

Enough is enough.???..Serial offender...minister Ananthkumar Hegde at it again....he calls Dalits DOGs ..for protesting against his controversial constitution remark... supreme leaders of #bjp will you ask him to step down ...or do you endorse his abuse #justasking
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) January 20, 2018

It may be recalled Hegde had earlier courted controversy with his remark about the constitution. He had then said that the word secular would be removed from the constitution. "Seculars do not know what their blood is. Yes, the constitution has given that right to say 'we are secular and we will say it'. Yes, I know but the constitution has been amended many times, we will also amend it. We have come to power for that," Hegde said.

Hegde's statement evoked protests from across all parties and the intelligentsia. Prakash Raj has also been attracting a lot of criticism from right-wing groups. However, he clarified the other day that he was not anti-Hindu, but only anti-Modi and anti-Shah, who he said were not real Hindus. It now appears that Anant Kumar Hegde has plunged into yet another major firestorm with his controversial remark.