Poor Bolt ate beef, won 9 medals, says Udit Raj

Udit Raj, BJP MP from Delhi, kicked up a storm on social media after tweeting that champion Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt went on to win nine Olympics gold medals, despite being born in poverty, after his trainer advised him to eat beef twice a day.

Dr Raj, who was BJP’s lead speaker in the Lok Sabha during discussions on increasing incidents of atrocities against dalits, faced the fury of right-leaning Twitter users over his tweet.

The BJP MP later accused sections of the media for twisting his tweet, which he claimed was only meant to encourage sportspersons. Within the BJP, his tweet raised a few eyebrows.

“Usain Bolt of Jamaica was poor and (his) trainer advised him to eat beef both the times and he scored nine gold medals in Olympics,” Dr Raj tweeted on Monday morning.

His tweet went viral afterwards, with some on social media asking him what Bolt would have won if he had consumed beef three times.

Rattled with the response, Dr Raj sought to play down his tweet, saying he merely sought to highlight that Bolt overcame hardship to win Olympic laurels.

“My comments were misconstrued. They were meant to inspire Indian athletes and convey that they can excel in adverse circumstances,” Dr Raj clarified.

The BJP MP also clarified that he had merely repeated what Bolt had said and all that he meant was that Indian athletes could find a way to excel despite adversities instead of blaming circumstances for their failures.

“All I wanted to say was that giving excuses that we don’t have infrastructure, or there is corruption, should be done away with and a lesson in dedication should be learnt from Usain Bolt. What I wanted to say is our players should find ways and means as he found ways and means,” Dr Raj said.

In a long statement issued by his office on his behalf, Dr Raj also said that the government spends a lot of money on athletes when compared to nations like Jamiaca or Kenya.

“Dr Raj did not comment on anything related to consumption of beef, but his tweet is now being misconstrued and misinterpreted by some media outlets to say that he advocates consumption of beef. He is well aware that food habits can not be dictated to anyone... as per the provisions of the Constitution of India,” the statement said.

The BJP MP also stated that he had been saddened to learn that his views were more misunderstood than understood. “This statement is being issued to elaborate his views on the subject and put an end to this artificially created controversy,” his office maintained.