Mamata Banerjee Apologises For Trinamool Minister’s Comments On President

Kolkata:

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today condemned and apologised for her minister’s comments on President Droupadi Murmu. Saying it is not in her party’s culture to make personal comments, she added the MLA has been cautioned over his comments and her party has also apologised.

“We respect the President a lot. She is a very sweet lady, I apologise for the comments,” Ms Banerjee said, adding that “Akhil (Giri) has done something wrong; I condemn the comments and I apologise.

“Beauty is not about how you look, it is about how you are from the inside,” she added.

West Bengal BJP MLAs marched to the Raj Bhavan this afternoon in protest against the distasteful comments by Trinamool minister Akhil Giri on the President of India. The BJP MLAs were heard singing songs and were led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

After the video clip of his comments went viral, Mr Giri had apologised for making such a remark.

In a 17-second video clip, Mr Giri was heard commenting on the “looks of the President”.

“They (BJP) said that I am not good-looking. We don’t judge anyone by their appearance. We respect the office of the President (of India). But how does our President look?” Mr Giri, the minister of state for Correctional Homes, was heard saying at a rally in a village in Nandigram late on Friday evening.

Calling the comments “irresponsible”, the party had distanced itself from Mr Giri’s remarks. “This is an irresponsible comment & does NOT represent the views of @AITCofficial. We are extremely proud of the President of India & hold her & her office in the highest regard,” TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale had tweeted earlier.