Congress workers protest against Giriraj Singh's 'racist' remarks

The minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises is under fire for his racist barb at Sonia Gandhi

A group of Congress workers today staged a protest against Union Minister Giriraj Singh outside a residential complex where he lives, slamming the BJP leader's remarks against Sonia Gandhi.

Shouting slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP and Singh, Congress workers gathered outside Vitthal Bhai Patel House complex. Singh had apparently left for Bengaluru last evening to attend BJP's National Executive meeting.

Soon, police swung into action and took away the banners from the protesters and foiled an attempt to burn Singh's effigy. The protesters were later bundled off in a police bus.

Congress and NSU workers also assembled at a major junction, about a km away from the hotel where top BJP leaders have gathered for the party's two-day National Executive meeting beginning here tomorrow. The workers shouted slogans against Singh and burnt his effigy.

State Mahila Congress chief Manjula Naidu condemned the minister's "racist" remarks and said an apology from him would not do and he should be sacked.

These protesters too were whisked away by the police.

The minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises is under fire for his racist barb at Gandhi. He had kicked up a row on Tuesday by asking whether Congress would have accepted Sonia Gandhi's leadership had she not been white-skinned.

"Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her (Sonia's) leadership?" he had told journalists on Tuesday.