Gadkari refuses to apologise for Afzal Guru remark

Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Friday ruled out an apology for his controversial remark that Afzal Guru was like a 'son-in-law' for Congress leaders after he targeted the ruling party over the delay in the hanging of the Parliament attack death row convict.

When asked by reporters whether he will apologise for his remarks, Gadkari said he will stick to his stand. "I have said nothing wrong. I stick to my stand and so there is no need (to apologise)," he said.

"I have not made a wrong statement. They (Congress) should rather give the reply as to why they are not executing the orders of the Supreme Court," he said.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad defended Gadkari, saying it was 'constructive criticism' of the government's stand in the wake of the delay in the hanging of Afzal Guru. Gadkari was only articulating the pain and agony of the kith and kin of the Parliament attack victims, said Prasad.

The Congress had slammed  Gadkari over his comments about Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, saying he had 'lost it'.

"This is a very disgraceful statement. The country will decide whether such language will be used in polity. Coming from the president of a national party, it is unfortunate and nobody had thought about such degradation of public life. This has once again proved that Gadkari is not mature enough to be the president of a national party," said party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed.

Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said, "The remark smacks of obscenity, obnoxiousness and obtuseness."

He added, "It is very obvious that the esteemed president of the BJP has lost it completely. The BJP should take pity on him and put him into a psychiatric facility. The man needs serious help."

The Congress' reaction come after the BJP president criticised the United Progressive Alliance for delaying the hanging of Guru.

At a BJP rally on Thursday night in Dehradun, Gadkari had said, "Is Afzal Guru the son-in-law of the Congress? Why is he being given special treatment?"

Gadkari had gone on to add, "It (Congress) is a party full of fearful people. They can never fight with terrorists and can never get rid of terrorism. It is a party which will bow down in front of terrorists and can never protect India."

The Supreme Court had upheld Afzal's death penalty in 2005. Since then, the Opposition has attacked the Congress for delaying his hanging, saying if Afzal is not hanged, India will be seen as a soft state.

Afzal has been on death row for over eight years after he was convicted of masterminding the December 13, 2001 attack on Parliament.

Four years after its opinion was sought, the Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi finally gave its opinion to Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna recently, saying that it supports the Supreme Court's decision to award the death sentence to Afzal Guru, but added a rider saying that the implications of the execution must be taken into consideration.

Within hours of this, Khanna returned the file, seeking the Delhi government's stand on Afzal's mercy petition. The Delhi government sent back Afzal's file saying that it stood by the Supreme Court verdict.