A snippet from a video of a speech given by the chief minister of Tripura, Bilab Kumar Deb, has surfaced on the internet. In the video, Deb can be heard saying that nails of those who criticise his government should be chopped off. 

In a video shared by ANI, Deb can be heard saying, “Around 8 am, a vegetable vendor brings bottle gourd to the market. However, it gets rotten by 9 am due to repeated digging of nails by customers. This should not happen with my government. No interference in my government. If someone poked or interferes, his nails should be chopped off. No one can touch my government.”

While it is unclear as to when and where the speech was made, it is not the first of such comments made by Deb. He has earlier stated that the internet existed during the Mahabharata era. He has also questioned the crowning of Diana Hayden as Miss World in 1997. In addition, he has spoken about how civil engineers should opt for civil services instead of mechanical engineers. 

When asked about his statements, Deb told the media: “I am not quoted accurately. You know better what I want to say. Inner meaning of my comments have not appeared in the media.”.