Bengaluru, August 11: Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian and former Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Monday sparked a controversy by calling employees of state-owned telecom giant BSNL 'anti-nationals' and 'traitors'.

Addressing a gathering at Uttara Kannada’s Kumta on Monday, Hedge said, as quoted by news agency ANI, "BSNL employees are traitors who weren't willing to work to develop a well-known firm. More than 88000 employees will be fired, as govt will privatise BSNL." Anantkumar Hegde Stokes Row, Says Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee Wanted to Raise Taxes in India Via 'Pappu'; Twitterati Hit Back.

Here's what Anantkumar Hegde said:

His video clips went viral after the address. Alleging that BSNL employees are not ready to work, the BJP MP said, "There are people working in the organisation, it has the infrastructure, advanced technology is also available but the employees are not ready to work."

Apart from calling BSNL people traitors, Hegde said, "In the coming days we will be removing all 88,000 employees and there could be more such developments. It would be like a major surgery. We have made up our mind to privatise BSNL and bring it back to order."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 11, 2020 04:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).