The BJP Thursday distanced itself from party MP Chandan Mitra's demand to strip Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of the Bharat Ratna for his anti-Narendra Modi remarks, terming it his "personal opionion".
"It is Mr Mitra's personal opinion," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters in answer to a query on the issue.
Mitra's remarks had stoked a controversy with the Congress terming it an insult of the highest civilian award and a reflection of fascist mentality.
In tweets Wednesday, Mitra said the next Nationalist Democratic Alliance (NDA) government should strip Sen of Bharat Ratna.
Amartya Sen had said in a TV interview that he did not want Modi to be prime minister of the country in view of his "record" during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Though Mitra had said that his tweets were concering Sen were his "personal" opinion and had nothing to do with the party, BJP spoksperson Meenakshi Lekhi had supprted him.
