Giriraj apologises for ‘racist’ Sonia remark

NEW DELHI: A charged up Congress on Monday forced Union minister Giriraj Singh to express regret in Lok Sabha for his ‘racist’ remark against Sonia Gandhi amid vociferous protests from the opposition benches on the issue.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was prompt in taking control of the situation soon after the House opened on Monday after a month-long recess in the Budget session.
“I never meant to offend anyone. But if my comments hurt anyone’s sentiments, I regret it,” Singh said when the Speaker asked him to respond after the House saw loud protests by Congress members, who termed his remarks as an insult to womanhood and sought his resignation.
Soon after the House met, the Speaker allowed Congress member Jyotiraditya Scindia to raise the issue. Mahajan said she was also hurt by the remarks and such statements should not be made. Both Sonia and Giriraj were present in the House.
The minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises was under fire for his racist barb at Sonia asking whether Congress would have accepted her leadership had she not been white-skinned.
While Scindia demanded an apology from PM Narendra Modi, parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there was no need to drag the PM into the picture. But Congress’s leader in the LS Mallikarjun Kharge said that the “PM is the leader of the House.”
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