VK Singh sparks row with ‘dog’ remark on dalit deaths, apologizes

NEW DELHI: BJP's run of controversial statements continues with minister of state V K Singh's ill-phrased comment that the government cannot be held responsible if a stone is thrown at a dog - in the context of the murder of two dalit children in Faridabad - inviting a storm of criticism from opposition parties. Though Singh tried to initially defend his remarks, by late evening he apologized for them. Sources said his fuller apology came after BJP chief Amit Shah spoke to him. "I will be very clear on this that in case, because of this mixing up of two things, which someone else has done, if somebody's feelings have been hurt, I am apologizing for it. Because some people have created a totally different picture altogether, which was never there. I had no intention of hurting anybody. Because of this imaginative linking of somebody if somebody's feelings have been hurt, I apologize whole-heartedly," Singh told ANI before flying to Thailand on a ministerial assignment. TOI