BJP distances itself from Raja's derogatory statement on Kanimozhi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday disassociated itself from party's national secretary H Raja's statement, calling DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi an "illegitimate child" of DMK president M Karunanidhi.

Party's National General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao said the statement does not represent BJP's view neither they are in line with party's culture.

"Such remarks do not represent BJP's view neither they are in line with our party's culture," Rao wrote on Twitter.

BJP soon started receiving flak from the opposition after Raja made a derogatory statement against Kanimozhi and Karunanidhi.

Former Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram demanded to know the BJP's stand on it.

"There is no such thing as 'illegitimate child'. All children are perfectly legitimate. Will the BJP please explain where it stands?" Chidambaram tweeted. "Every child has a mother and a father," he added further, in a tweet in Tamil.

Raja gave this statement, reportedly, in connection with the tough questions posed to state governor Banwarilal Purohit, whose name cropped up after a teacher urged students to compromise to reach to higher levels. The same teacher had also boasted about her accessibility to the governor.