New Delhi/Bhopal:
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's controversial remarks on scrapping the Rajya Sabha generated a lot of heat.
At a programme on electoral reforms, Chouhan had made a case for Rajya Sabha to be abolished. And that was not all. He even alleged money decides who's elected to the House of Elders, singling out Kingfisher. (Read: Scrap Rajya Sabha polls, says Shivraj Chouhan)
"There is horse trading in Rajya Sabha elections... seats are bought and sold... sometimes it's Kingfisher, sometimes others. Democracy is shamed (Rajya Sabha mein kaise chunav hote hain ... aur chunaav mein kaun kaun paisa lagatehain .. Kabhi King fisher wale aate hain , kabhi aur doosra aata hai ..sareaam kahridi hoti hai MLA ki ...mandi ban jata hai. Vidhaykon ki boli lageey jati hai. sare aam lok tantra sharm saar hot ahai ..)," Chouhan had said.
But now he is apologising for these remarks.
"Rajya Sabha is a Constitutional institution and I respect it, and I also respect all the members of the Rajya Sabha, and if people have construed different meaning of my words, I apologise," Chouhan said.
These remarks are perhaps an embarrassment to the BJP that had backed Mallya's candidature, barely six months ago. The party distanced itself from Chouhan's comments.
"This is not the official view of the matter," Chandan Mitra, a BJP leader and a Rajya Sabha member, said.
Sources say there was discomfort in the BJP's top leadership over the chief minister's remarks, and that may well have been the reason why Chouhan retracted his comments.
At a programme on electoral reforms, Chouhan had made a case for Rajya Sabha to be abolished. And that was not all. He even alleged money decides who's elected to the House of Elders, singling out Kingfisher. (Read: Scrap Rajya Sabha polls, says Shivraj Chouhan)
"There is horse trading in Rajya Sabha elections... seats are bought and sold... sometimes it's Kingfisher, sometimes others. Democracy is shamed (Rajya Sabha mein kaise chunav hote hain ... aur chunaav mein kaun kaun paisa lagatehain .. Kabhi King fisher wale aate hain , kabhi aur doosra aata hai ..sareaam kahridi hoti hai MLA ki ...mandi ban jata hai. Vidhaykon ki boli lageey jati hai. sare aam lok tantra sharm saar hot ahai ..)," Chouhan had said.
But now he is apologising for these remarks.
"Rajya Sabha is a Constitutional institution and I respect it, and I also respect all the members of the Rajya Sabha, and if people have construed different meaning of my words, I apologise," Chouhan said.
These remarks are perhaps an embarrassment to the BJP that had backed Mallya's candidature, barely six months ago. The party distanced itself from Chouhan's comments.
"This is not the official view of the matter," Chandan Mitra, a BJP leader and a Rajya Sabha member, said.
Sources say there was discomfort in the BJP's top leadership over the chief minister's remarks, and that may well have been the reason why Chouhan retracted his comments.
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