Shiv Sena backs Union minister Giriraj Singh on sterilisation

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party's ally Shiv Sena on Thursday backed Union Minister Giriraj Singh over his controversial remarks on sterilisation and said he hadn't done anything wrong in expressing his views.

"What he said was right. However, instead of merely harping on sterilisation, he should demand implementation of common civil code in the country," the Sena said.

"The monster of population explosion is swallowing up the country. The proportion of Muslims in this population rise is more," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

Singh, who is the Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, had recently said that after 'notebandi' (demonetisation), there is an urgent need to make laws for 'nasbandi' (sterilisation) in the country.

"India has 17 per cent of the world population which adds population equal to Australia every year. The country only has 2.5 per cent of land mass of the globe with only 4.2 per cent of water resources. In this scenario, the population explosion is proving to be a big roadblock for development. We need a population control act to tide over the problem," Singh had said.