Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday refuted claims that he had raised “shoot the traitors” slogan ahead of the Delhi assembly election and said strict action should be taken against those involved in the violence in Northeast Delhi that claimed at least 46 lives.

Refuting that he has ever raised controversial “shoot the traitors” chant in the run-up to elections in Delhi, Thakur said: “You are lying.”

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“I think sometimes there is lack of information in the media too regarding the way some things are projected,” he replied to the media on being asked about his hate speech that was also blamed for flaring up the violence.

Asking the media to limit their questionnaire to his department only, the BJP leader replied: “The matter is sub-judice. You should have full facts. Half-baked truth is dangerous — be it the propaganda of media or somebody else. I feel that you guys should have complete knowledge.”

“What clarification you want on this? Strict action should be taken against those who are accused of inciting the riots and were involved in riots,” he said.

“From Monday, Parliament session will begin, questions are raised there also from economy to various other issues and on that platform, answers will be given on various matters,” an angry Thakur said.

“If you have questions on the economy, you should ask those,” he summed up.

The Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs was interacting with the media after meeting stakeholders from trades and industries during an interactive session organised by the Income Tax Department.

On the riots that rocked the national capital last week, Thakur said: “Strict action should be taken against those involved in the riots. The strength of our country is that people of various faiths coexist and live unitedly contributing towards building the nation.”

The Union minister’s claim comes in the backdrop of the Delhi High Court set to hear the case of alleged “hate speeches” by Anurag Thakur and two other BJP leaders in April.

A furious two-judge bench of the high court headed by Justice S Muralidhar had last week directed the Delhi Police to take a “conscious decision” on the registration of FIRs against the three prominent political leaders for alleged hate speeches and thereby inciting violence in the national capital.

Pulling up the city police, the Delhi High Court asked the Delhi Police to sit and watch all videos of hate speeches made in the recent past and submit a report on the same.

The court also played the three speeches so that the Delhi Police and Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who had denied watching the clips, could see them.

However, the next day, a new bench of the Delhi High Court adjourned the hearing on the matter till April 13 and also made the Centre a party in the case.

Anurag Thakur was under the scanner of the Election Commission for his rally in Rithala in North West Delhi during which he was seen prompting the crowd to say “Shoot the traitors”.

The BJP leader stoked controversy as he was seen in a viral video seen raising slogans, like “Desh ke gaddaro ko” and urging the crowd to complete the slogan with, “goli maaro saalo ko” (Shoot the traitors).

Following this, the poll body barred Anurag Thakur from campaigning in Delhi for 72 hours.