Patna, October 1: Bihar energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav sparked a controversy on Sunday by refusing to wear a skull cap offered to him at a conference in Katihar, about 300km west from Patna. According to a 0.36-second video shared by ANI, the minister, who was a chief guest at a conference, refused to wear the skull cap when he was offered by a member of the organisation. In the video that went viral, it is seen that when one of the organizers tried to put a skull cap on the Minister’s head, Yadav took it in his hands and passed to someone standing behind him.

The JD(U) had organized a Talimi Bedari conference for Muslim leaders at Katihar. Yadav, who is the senior minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet after deputy CM Sushil Modi, was the chief guest. Prasad, who is the energy minister in the Nitish Kumar government, was the chief guest at a conference for Muslim leaders, called ‘Talimi Bedari’.

Reports inform that Yadav’s gesture of refusing to wear the skull cap made the Muslim members furious. Some of them even agitated over the minister's refusal in front of the local media persons. Yadav has been a Member of Legislative Assembly since 1990 from Sapaul constituency and is believed to be the senior-most member in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet. Yogi Adityanath Refuses to Wear Skull-Cap; Watch Video.

Watch Video: Bihar Minister Refuses to wear a skull cap:

A similar incident took place in September 2011 where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had refused to wear a skull cap presented by a Muslim cleric in Ahmedabad during his sadbhavana fast. The Prime Minister was then the chief minister of Gujarat. Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor in August had asked the Prime Minister as to why he categorically refuses to wear Muslim skull caps and the colour green.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2018 09:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).