India, April 20 -- Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) Sanjeev Jaiswal's threat during a public meeting to check the identity documents of a man sporting a beard and his reference to the man as a 'ghuskhor' or bribe-taker has evoked sharp reactions from politicians across the ruling and opposition parties.

The BJP, which heads the Mahayuti government in the state, has said that Jaiswal must apologise before the people of Motilal Nagar, where he made the comments. The Congress has, however, alleged that bureaucrats have started toeing the government line against a section of the society, referring to the BJP's alleged use of the infiltrator tag to target Muslims in poll-bound sta...