India, May 6 -- Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and state minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has stirred controversy with his appeal to party workers to induct Congress leaders and "empty" the rival party - a statement that has drawn sharp criticism from the Congress.

Bawankule while speaking at an event in the city on Sunday encouraged local BJP members to rope in Congress loyalists, suggesting that the defection of such leaders would benefit the saffron party.

An audio clip of his speech, now circulating on social media, captures him saying: "Bring people like Sangram Thopte into the BJP. Empty the Congress. Don't worry about accommodating their leaders. The more you empty their party, the stronger we get politically...