Congress adamant over 'racist' Giriraj Singh's resignation

The Congress party on Thursday reiterated that it would accept nothing less than a resignation from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and union minister Giriraj Singh for his controversial remarks on party president Sonia Gandhi.

"When a minister uses such language nothing less than his resignation is acceptable. The language which was used for Sonia Gandhi, it seem that BJP people have lost their mental balance," party spokesperson Shobha Oza told ANI.

Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said that there is no control over the ministers of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

"This is not the first time Giriraj ji has made such a controversial statement, he has made such statements in the past also, but I do not think this is going to affect Narendra Modi. He wants such people to be around him," Anwar told ANI here.

Earlier on Wednesday, Singh had said that his comment on Sonia Gandhi was made 'off the record' and added that it was being presented by the media in a different light.

"The things that are being shown by the media were something that was said was off the record. People say many kinds of things at home or outside. The way it was presented is a different issue. But If I have hurt anyone's sentiments including Sonia ji and Rahul ji, I regret what I said," said he told ANI.

Singh, who was sitting among a group of his supporters in Hajipur in Bihar, had jocularly asked whether Sonia's "white skin" had been her ticket to securing the top job in the Congress Party.

Stoking the controversy further, he further queried, "If Rajiv (Gandhi) had married a Nigerian, things would have been different."

Singh's comments were also deplored by the Nigerian High Commissioner to India, O B Okongor.