Ballia (UP), Jul 21 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh minister, Anand Swaroop Shukla, has waded into controversy by saying that whosever stands against India, will be killed in an encounter.

Referring to renowned poet Munawwar Rana, the minister said that he was one of those people who stayed in India after the partition of 1947 and were involved in the conspiracy to break the country from inside.

"In such a situation, whoever will stand against Indians, will be killed in the encounter," he told reporters.

It may be recalled that recently Munawwar Rana had said that if Yogi Adityanath becomes the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh again, he would contemplate leaving the state and living elsewhere.

Munawwar Rana had also raised questions on the entry of Asaduddin Owaisi in the Uttar Pradesh elections and said that such parties want to fight the elections only to polarize voters on religious lines.

Anand Swarup Shukla further attacked BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra and said, "Kanshi Ram had talked about building toilets instead of temples in Ayodhya, so now Mayawati should answer what her people are doing in Ayodhya."