The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday chose to remain silent on Pramod Mahajan's new twist to the foreign origin issue apparently targeting Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi.
The party general secretary wants the prime ministership to be restricted to only those born of Indian parents.
To compound matters, Union Minister Rajnath Singh has said that there is no bar on Rahul and Priyanka becoming prime ministers and the issue is only aimed at Sonia Gandhi.
Despite repeated attempts at the party's press briefing, BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar parried all queries on the issue. He suggested that Mahajan's statement may have been taken out of context but did say that there is 'no difference between what they (Mahajan and Rajnath Singh) are saying'.
When reporters persisted, Javadekar said there is no need for them to bother as 'people of the country are not going to give any opportunity to them (Rahul or Priyanka)'.
Meanwhile, Mahajan's statement sparked off angry protests from youth Congress workers in Kolkata. They staged a demonstration and burnt the former Union minister's effigy.