Day after reports quoted him saying that the incidents of mob lynching were a conspiracy to malign Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arjun Ram Meghwal took to Twitter to defend himself claiming that the media had “misinterpreted” his statement.

The Union MoS in Ministry of Water Resources said on Sunday, “I again reiterate that my statement is completely misinterpreted by few sections of media. We deeply condemn the incidents of mob lynching & @HMOIndia has issued advisory to state government in 2016 n July 2018 for taking strict action in such cases.”

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When asked to comment on the rising cases of lynching in the country, Meghwal, an MP from Bikaner, had on Saturday told reporters that such incidents will rise with the increasing popularity of the Prime Minister in an attempt to defame him.

“As Modi-ji becomes more popular, such incidents will take place. When Bihar elections happened, we had award wapsi… When UP elections came, mob lynching happened,” NDTV quoted him as saying.

The 63-year-old Meghwal also expressed fear of a rise in the incidents of intolerance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“Because schemes brought by Modi-ji are making a difference at the ground level, this is a reaction,” he reportedly said.

Though he condemned mob lynching in the strongest terms, Meghwal attacked the Congress over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots calling it the “biggest incident of mob lynching”.

Meghwal’s comment came in the backdrop of a lynching incident in Alwar district of Rajasthan.

On Friday night, a man was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in on suspicion of cow smuggling.

Reports say the villagers of Ramgarh attacked two men who were transporting cows from their native Kolganv village in Haryana to Ramgarh. One of them identified as Akbar Khan died on the spot.

Read More: Alwar shocker | Man beaten to death on suspicion of cow smuggling

The villagers severely thrashed Khan and his accomplice, a police officer said, adding Khan’s body has been sent for autopsy.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had condemned the incident stating that strictest possible action will be taken against the perpetrators.