India, Aug. 31 -- Two days after Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigned from his post, another minister from chief minister DK Shivakumar's cabinet has invited controversy and calls for his resignation after he declared Islam "superior to other religions."

Speaking at a mass marriage programme organised by the Muslim community in Kuknoor on Saturday, Basavaraj Rayareddi said that Islam is the "greatest" and expressed his desire to undertake the Hajj pilgrimage at least once.

"I would like to say that Islam is shreshta dharam (great religion) than other dharmas...." He tried to explain that there are misconceptions about the religion.

"Islam is a great religion full of humanity. But wrong notions are being spread about Islam in society....