Former BJP MLA Sanjay Gupta has sparked controversy after warning voters of bizarre consequences if they used drinking water supplied through projects undertaken during his tenure but did not vote for him.
Speaking at his birthday celebration in Laksar, Haridwar, Gupta highlighted development works carried out while he represented the constituency, including projects aimed at providing clean drinking water to villages.
Gupta said residents in some areas had earlier relied on contaminated groundwater and claimed that water tanks were constructed to provide them with clean drinking water.
“I gave people clean water,” Gupta said before making an unusual appeal to voters.
“If you drink my water and do not vote for me, you will get worms in your stomach and your stomach will burst,” he said, according to a video of the speech that has circulated on social media.
The remark drew laughter from people attending the gathering and has since triggered criticism and political debate.
Gupta represented Laksar in the Uttarakhand Assembly from 2012 to 2022, winning the seat in 2012 and retaining it in 2017. He lost the constituency in the 2022 election to Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Mohammad Shahzad.
At the birthday event, Gupta also spoke about road, electricity and drinking-water projects undertaken during his tenure, including works in villages such as Mahatoli.
The gathering was attended by BJP workers and supporters, along with former Uttarakhand cabinet minister Swami Yatishwaranand and Mahant Ravindra Puri, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad.
