External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday dismissed criticism of his remarks calling Narendra Modi “impotent”, saying the BJP had misconstrued his comments.
“If he (Modi) does not understand these words then I can send him a dictionary,” Khurshid said after the BJP reacted sharply to his remarks, saying the Union minister had lost his mental balance.
Clarifying his remarks on the BJP’s PM candidate for 2014 polls, Khurshid said, “You have another word for incapacity? For lack of strength? I talked about impotency in politics.”
“I am not his doctor; I didn’t physically examine him. I meant that he lacks strength to do what he could have done,” the Congress leader said further.
However, refusing to apologise for the choice of his words Khurshid asked: “Would I call him potent? No other word expressed my feeling better. He should accept what he did in 2002.”
Khurshid also targeted BJP chief Rajnath Singh for saying yesterday that he was ready to seek forgiveness for any mistakes committed in the past by the BJP.
“Rajnath Singh must be regretful; he is a man of character. He’s in a spot because his PM candidate isn’t accepting the blame,” Khurshid said.
“First he should accept; apologising comes later,” the minister suggested, adding “he is offering to apologise to Muslims. Why? He should apologise to the nation.”.
Reacting to Khurshid’s remarks yesterday, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain had tweeted this morning, “Filthy words used 4 political opponent, seems foreign education has taken away Indian values of ‘Tehzeeb’ & ‘Tameez’ frm Sh Salman Khurshid (sic).”
“Is the language used by Sh Salman Khurshid a reflection of the so called guidance being given to Congress leaders by Sh Rahul Gandhi? (sic)”
