On Congress pressure Giriraj Singh apologises to Sonia

Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi: On Congress Party pressure Union minister Giriraj Singh apologises in the Lok Sabha today for the statement on Sonia Gandhi. But protesting Congress MPs refused to allow the house function over a comment he made about Sonia Gandhi.
Giriraj said “I never meant to offend, if my comments hurt anyone’s sentiments, I regret it,”.
The comment in question was, “If Rajiv had married a Nigerian woman, would Congress have accepted her? If Sonia had not been white, would the party have accepted her?” Singh had made the remark in what he had believed to be an off the record interaction with journalists in Patna.
The opposition had earlier demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise for Singh’s comment and had demanded that the minister resign, forcing an adjournment in the Lok Sabha soon after the budget session resumed.
The comment drew immense flak from across the board.
Congress workers staged protests outside his home in Delhi, and across the country party workers burnt effigies of him. Senior Congress leader Raj Babbar went one better, claiming that Giriraj was suffering from “mental illness” and offered to bear expenses of the union minister’s “treatment”.