Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's attempt to attack the Centre over demonetisation using the surname of new Miss World Manushi Chhillar backfired today with the National Commission for Women deciding to summon him over his "derogatory" remark.
Condemning Tharoor's comment, the NCW also demanded that he should apologise for allegedly degrading the achievement of Chhillar.
Tharoor apologised over his remark, which, he said was a "light-hearted" comment and also praised Chhillar.
However, it was not clear if he apologised after the NCW took serious view of the tweet.
"What a mistake to demonetise our currency! BJP should have realised that Indian cash dominates the globe: look, even our Chhillar has become Miss World!," Tharoor said on the micro-blogging site, apparently punning on the word 'chillar', which in Hindi means "loose change"
"@NCWIndia will summon @ShashiTharoor to commission on his derogatory and degrading tweet on our pride @ManushiChhillar. She got fame and name to country by winning #MissWorld crown," the commission said on Twitter.
Accusing Tharoor of degrading the achievement of Chhillar, a medical student who hails from Haryana, the NCW asked whether the Congress leader will call his own daughter a "chillar".
"...he must apologise immediately," it said.
Tharoor apologised, stressing that no offence was meant to the "bright young girl".
"Guess the pun IS the lowest form of humour, & the bilingual pun lower still! Apologies to the many who seem to have been righteously offended by a light-hearted tweet today. Certainly no offence was meant to a bright young girl whose answer I've separately praised. Please: Chill!," he tweeted.
However, Tharoor was not the only one to draw a link between the Miss World's surname and demonetisation on the micro-blogging site with many of them punning on the word 'chillar'.
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