The Shiv Sena has hit upon a bizarre idea to counter what it claims is the growing population of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.

The right wing outfit has given a call to Hindu couples in the state to have more children and decided to reward those families that have more than four children.

Justifying such a call, Sena member of Parliament Chandrakant Khaire told rediff.com in Mumbai that family planning measures were supposed to be followed by all communities. "But the Muslims are not adopting family planning measures and therefore the Sena's call to Hindus to have more children is a form of protest," Khaire said.

The Uttar Pradesh unit of Sena has sent a circular to all of its branches asking them to make Hindus aware of its new plan.

The Sena blames the central and state governments for the failure of family planning programmes and the rise in unemployment.

Shiv Sena's Uttar Pradesh unit chief, Vijay Tiwari, said: "In UP, Muslim population is increasing rapidly. The government has failed to implement the family planning formula on Muslims although the Hindus have accepted it."

But Tiwari was quick to add that he agreed with the 'chhota parivar, sukhi parivar (small family, happy family)' slogan.

"But if Hindus become a minority, there is no sukh (happiness). We have done in-depth research on this before announcing our measure," he said.

Tiwari also expressed concern at the growing number of Bangladeshi Muslims in the state. "We have identified thousands of Bangladeshis in various cities of Uttar Pradesh and informed the administration about it. But nobody has taken any action against them," he claimed.