Congress struggles to defend Digvijay's remarks

Congress today found it hard to defend Digvijay Singh's controversial statements, the latest being his use of '100 percent tunch maal' to describe party MP Meenakshi Natarajan at a public meeting in Madhya Pradesh.
Party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary tried to duck a barrage of questions from media, saying she had not heard Singh's remarks and was not aware in what context he had said so.
"How can I endorse or condemn something when I am not aware what has happened," she said, stressing that if he intended to praise Natarajan then the matter should end here.
A colloquial phrase used in north India, 'tunch maal' loosely translates as a desirable product.

Chowdhary, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, said she was not aware about the meaning of the phrase.
"We are working if you don't mind. We don't have the luxury of sitting in front of TV and watching news whole days," she said when asked about Singh's remarks being aired by news channels.

The party was, however, more forthcoming in rejecting Singh's demand for a judicial probe in Batla house encounter.
"Leaders are not free to say what they want... .There is a full trial that has happened we must respect the judicial system. We should not verbalise or articulate on anything that would divert from judicial system (sic) and impact the morale of our forces," Chowdhary said.

Singh, who earlier claimed that the encounter was fake, had, after the court verdict indicting the lone accused, said that he stands by his statement.
While praising Natarajan as a simple and honest person, Singh had said he was an seasoned smith who could differentiate between a fake and genuine product. "She is 100 percent tunch maal," he had said.