A day after raking up a controversy for his derogatory statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar's Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil today tendered an apology stating that his assertion was not aimed at hurting anyone.
"I apologise if my statement or statements of my people have hurt anyone," Jalil told ANI.
Jalil drew flak by asking a crowd gathered at a programme to stage a protest against the demonetisation drive and to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pictures with shoes.
Jalil, a Congress leader, was addressing the gathering on February 22 in his assembly constituency Amour in Purnea district.
In the video of the programme, which surfaced on media, Jalil is heard telling the crowd that Prime Minister Modi had said if he fails to end people's woes within 50 days of demonetisation then he would be ready to face any punishment.
Irked by Jalil's statement the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the former's expulsion while stating that it would raise this issue in both the state assembly as well as the legislative council.
"One can have ideological differences. But the Constitution does not allow a person, who is a minister in a state, to incite a crowd and to humiliate a Prime Minister in this manner," BJP's Sushil Modi said.
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