Mangaluru : Former Karnataka minister K S Eshwarappa stoked controversy by making a controversial remark on azaan during Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Vijay Sankalp Yatra held in Mangaluru’s Kavoor on Sunday.

While addressing a gathering, Eshwarappa paused his speech on hearing azaan from a nearby mosque for a second but was quick in taking objection to the sound.

“This is a headache wherever you go. There is the Supreme Court judgment. This will khatam (stop) today or tomorrow and should have no doubt about it, ” he said.

He went on to ask if Allah could hear only if screamed through loudspeakers.

“If he needs a loudspeaker, then we have to call him deaf,” he said.

The minister told reporters on Monday, “Keeping elections in mind, we won’t compromise on ideology. Muslims who believe in Nationalism are with us and will vote for us. Only Muslims who support PFI and SDPI are not with us. I was was just expressing the sentiments of common people especially students who face problems while preparing for exams. Whatever poses a problem to Indian culture will be stopped in phases. Sooner or later ‘Azaan’ will also stop,” he said.

When asked whether ‘bhajans’ and other religious events will not cause problems to the public, he said bhajan aimed for ‘Dharma Jagruthi’ and there should be reforms in it too while referring to the use of loudspeakers.