A day after stoking controversy with his comment, Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai on Tuesday said he felt “sorry” for it and “but, I was misinterpreted.”
BJP MP from Ujjiyarpur Mr. Rai, while addressing a party meeting organised by the Banshi Chacha Samajik Vikas Parishad in Patna on Monday, said “if anyone would raise his fingers or hands towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we all should either break those fingers or chop off the hands.”
All top State party leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, former State party chief Mangal Pandey and Minister for Road Construction and Tourism Nand Kishore Yadav were present during the occasion.
“I was misinterpreted as what I had said was a proverb in Hindi,” he said later. “Haath katna, unglai todna hindi ke muhavre hain jiska matlab virodhiyon ko darana hota hai [Chopping-off hands, breaking fingers are proverbs in Hindi which are used to intimidate your opponents],” he explained.
“But, even if it has hurt anyone, I feel sorry for this,” he asserted.
Earlier in August, Mr. Rai courted controversy saying that “sound of Bharat Mata Ki Jai should replace azaan from mosques and church bells.” However, he later made a U-turn and asserted he did not say so.
Meanwhile, Opposition party RJD had taken a swipe at the Bihar BJP chief’s comment. “In BJP the leaders are competing with each other to appease PM Modi by making such atrocious comments,” said party leader Shivanand Tiwari.
