New Delhi: Union Minister Giriraj Singh, who triggered a major row with his racist comments on Sonia Gandhi, was forced to express his regrets after a call from BJP President Amit Shah who made it clear to him that “such language” was not acceptable.
Party sources said Shah called Singh over telephone and made it clear in no uncertain terms that it was unbecoming of a minister to use such a language.
He said the BJP respects everyone and does not accept foul language against others.
“Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her leadership?,” he told journalists yesterday.
Singh also ridiculed Rahul Gandhi’s absence from the political scene and likened it to the “missing Malaysian airliner”.
“Imagine a situation, if Congress was in power instead of us and had Rahul been the Prime Minister, and if for some reason, the PM had disappeared for more than 47 days.
“Absence of Congress Vice President is similar to that of the missing Malaysian airliner that still has not been located. The same way the Congress leader was not present in the budget session. No one in Congress is ready to speak. This is unfortunate for the Congress and a joke for the country,” he said.
When asked about his controversial comments, Singh, who was in Delhi today, refused to comment. As his remarks snowballed into a major controversy, the BJP leader said if his comments have hurt Gandhi, he regretted them.
“If Soniaji and Rahulji have been hurt by my remarks, I express my regret,” he said even as he maintained that his remarks were “off the record” and suggested that media was blowing it out of proportion.
