Shashi Tharoor apologised for his remark, which, he said, was a "light-hearted" comment.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's tweet attacking the Centre over demonetisation by using new Miss World Manushi Chhillar's surname has invited strong criticism from two senior ministers in the Haryana government.
"What a mistake to demonetise our currency! BJP should have realised that Indian cash dominates the globe: look, even our Chhillar has become Miss World!" Mr Tharoor had said on the micro-blogging site, seemingly punning on the word '
chillar', which means "loose change" in Hindi.
Haryana Women and Child Development Minister Kavita Jain slammed Mr Tharoor, saying he "indulged in callous and reckless wordplay on new Miss World Manushi Chhillar". She asked him to apologise and said Haryana-born Manushi Chhillar was not just the pride of the state, but also of the entire nation.
"Tharoor has only exposed his own debased thinking by questioning the self-respect of our daughters, the pride of the country, and the brave community 'Chhillar'," Ms Jain said in a statement.
"It is tragic that leaders of the Congress party which is headed by a woman do not respect women. Such low thinking is responsible for the Congress losing its base in the country," she added.
Haryana Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu also criticised the Congress leader. "A shameless comment deserves to be withdrawn and Shashi must apologise for this...can't believe...he can go so low...(sic)" Abhimanyu tweeted.
Mr Tharoor later apologised for his remark, which, he said, was a "light-hearted" comment and also praised Manushi Chhillar.