'Narrow Mindset' Counters Sonia Gandhi to Giriraj Singh's Racist Remark About Her

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, asked to respond to a racist comment on her by union minister Giriraj Singh, said today: "I would not like to comment on people who have a narrow mindset."

Mrs Gandhi was speaking to reporters at a village in Madhya Pradesh, where she met farmers hit by unseasonal rain.

On Tuesday, Mr Singh had said at an event in Bihar: "If Rajiv Gandhi had married a Nigerian lady and not a white-skinned woman, then would the Congress have accepted her leadership?"

The BJP ordered Mr Singh to apologise. Sources say party chief Amit Shah asked the 63-year-old minister to "observe absolute restraint in public and in private" and stop embarrassing the party and the government.

The minister later said: "All sorts of things are said off the record. But if Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were hurt by my remarks, then I regret them."

The Congress said the minister's comment was "bordering on insanity" and demanded his resignation.