New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at Union minister Piyush Goyal for his remarks that Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee is "Left-leaning", saying "these bigots are blinded by hatred" and have no idea what a professional is.

Goyal, at a media briefing in Pune, had described Banerjee as a "Left-leaning" person. The Nobel laureate on Saturday told a TV channel that the commerce minister is "questioning my professionalism".

"Dear Mr Banerjee, These bigots are blinded by hatred and have no idea what a professional is. You cannot explain it to them, even if you tried for a decade," Gandhi said in a tweet tagging the media report on Banerjee's response to Goyal's comments on him.

"Please be certain that millions of Indians are proud of your work," the former Congress president said.

Goyal on Friday had also said Banerjee's suggestion of a minimum income scheme was rejected by Indian voters and there was no need to "accept what he thinks".

On Saturday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also hit out at Goyal for his remarks and said the government's job is not to run a "comedy circus", but improve the "collapsing" economy.

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Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.

The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).

"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.

The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.

The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.

Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.

They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.

Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.