Giriraj regrets racist remarks against Sonia Gandhi

Union Minister Giriraj Singh was today forced to express regret in the Lok Sabha for his racist remarks against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, after vociferous protests on the issue.
"I never meant to offend anyone. But if my comments hurt anyone's sentiments, I regret it," Singh said when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan 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 when his party colleagues protested. She said she was also hurt by the remarks and such statements should not be made.

Both Gandhi and Giriraj Singh were present in the House.
The minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises was under fire for his racist barb at Gandhi asking whether Congress would have accepted her leadership had she not been white-skinned.
"Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her (Sonia's) leadership," he had said recently.

Demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the resignation of Singh, Scindia said such remarks make people hang their heads in shame.
"It is an insult to womanhood ... It is also an insult to the Nigerians too...The Nigerian High Commissioner has also protested," he said.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said BJP MPs and ministers have continuously been making unwarranted and irresponsible statements. Such remarks create fissures in the society and hurt harmony, he said.