Maharashtra minister Vijaykumar Gavit faced criticism for saying that eating fish daily makes one’s eyes beautiful like Aishwarya Rai.

Maharashtra minister for tribal development, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijaykumar Gavit invited trouble for himself within his own ranks, when on Monday he was heard saying that daily consumption of fish would enable one to get eyes as beautiful as former Miss World and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

A video of the remarks by state tribal minister Vijaykumar Gavit, made at a public function in north Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district, has gone viral on social media.

“People who consume fish on a daily basis develop smooth skin and their eyes sparkle. If anyone looks at you, the person will get attracted (towards you). “Did I tell you about Aishwarya Rai? She lived near the seashore in Mangaluru. She would consume fish daily. Have you seen her eyes? You will also have eyes like her,’ the minister is heard saying.

“The fish contain some oils, it makes your skin smooth,’ added the 68-year-old minister, whose daughter Heena Gavit is BJP’s Lok Sabha member.

The comments from Gavit invited scorn from a fellow BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, who said, “I eat fish daily. My eyes should have become like that (like those of Aishwarya Rai). I will ask Gavit sahib if there is any research on this.’

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator Amol Mitkari said the minister should focus on issues faced by tribals, instead of making such ‘frivolous’ comments.

Notably, this comment by Gavit comes only weeks after MLA Sanjay Shirsat stated that Aaditya Thackeray sent Priyanka Chaturvedi to the Rajya Sabha after seeing her beauty. The Shinde camp MLA, however, attributed the statement to Maharashtra politician Chadrakant Khaire and said Khaire once told him this about Priyanka Chaturvedi and Aaditya Thackeray.

The comments arose when Priyanka Chaturvedi called Shirsat a ‘traitor’. The latter Eknath Shinde Camp MLA came back at Chaturvedi saying the the Rajya Sabha MP had also joined Shiv Sena (UBT) after quitting Congress.

Priyanka Chaturvedi joined Shiv Sena in 2019 leaving the Congress where she was a national spokesperson. She was unhappy with the reinstatement of some party workers in Congress who had misbehaved with him. In her resignation letter, she wrote that she felt she reached the end of the road and her services were not valued at the party any more.