Known for his controversial statements, Haryana senior Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday stoked a fresh controversy with his remarks that joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should be made mandatory for every citizen in the country.

Vij, while talking to the mediapersons here said that the RSS has helped in developing people’s character and RSS is a nationalist organisation. It should be made mandatory for every citizen to join the RSS, even if it is for sometime, said the Health and Sports Minister.

The Minister had earlier tweeted about the same and claimed that with people joining the RSS, many problems in the country will be resolved.

Vij remarks came amid the ongoing controversy over the former President Pranab Mukherjee’s decision to accept the RSS’ invitation to attend its June 7 event in Nagpur.

Mukherjee, who has been a Congress veteran, has been invited to be the chief guest at the valedictory function of Sangh Shiksha Varg -- a training camp for the RSS volunteers at its headquarters in Nagpur. The entire issue has snowballed into a row with many Congress leaders urging the former President to reconsider his decision in the interest of secularism.

Commenting on the issue, Haryana Minister Vij, who is a former RSS ideologue said, “Former President Pranab Mukherjee’s decision to accept invitation to RSS event is really appreciable.”

Vij, a senior Cabinet Minister in the BJP government in Haryana, is known for making controversial statements and tweets. He is a five-time BJP MlA from the Ambala Cantt constituency in the state.

No stranger to making controversial remarks, Vij is known to throw darts at the Congress president and had been critical of Nehru-Gandhi family on various occasions.

Only two days back, Vij had compared Congress president Rahul Gandhi with the Nipah virus which had left more than 12 people dead in Kerala. “Rahul Gandhi is like Nipah Virus. Any political party that comes in contact with him will be destroyed,” he had tweeted.

The Minister had attracted severe criticism over his remarks from the Congress leaders.

After Rahul Gandhi took over as party chief in December from his mother Sonia Gandhi, Vij had stated that this would help Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cause of a “Congress-mukt bharat (Congress-free India)”.

The Minister had recently courted another controversy by saying that Bhagat Singh and lala lajpat Rai had made the “supreme sacrifice” for the country by laying down their lives, unlike Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, “who did not suffer even a single stick”.

Anil Vij, who enjoys a reputation for honesty, had in the past also took pot shots at Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar, his own State Government and party colleagues, through his tweets.

Since the formation of first BJP led Haryana Government in the year 2014, Vij has remained in the limelight due to his controversial remarks and tweets.