Senior Trinamool Congress leader Rezzak Mollah, who made a series of offensive statements against actor-politician Roopa Ganguly during a recent interview, on Thursday extended his apology and said this is not the culture of West Bengal.
"I never uttered a word against television actors like Moon Moon Sen and Dev (Deepak Adhikari). It was put on my mouth from outside. They are not showing that I am speaking on the point, but they are giving breaking news regarding Ganguly, I am really sorry for making any remark about her personal life," Mollah told ANI.
He also made it clear that he was not apologising to her on the orders issued by the TMC high command.
"No pressure came from my party. I did wrong, so I should apologise to the person. This is not the culture of Bengal. I remarked against the culture for that I beg apology to Roopa Ganguly and all the people of Bengal," he added.
Meanwhile, Ganguly avoided commenting on the TMC leader's offensive statement, saying she does not have time to respond to such useless remarks.
"These are useless things. It doesn't matter what they say," Ganguly told ANI.
During an interview to a Bengali news channel, Mollah had said he knew the length of the cigarettes Ganguly smokes, adding she really is Draupadi.
Ganguly, who is known for her role as Draupadi in B R Chopra's television serial 'Mahabharat', is the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Howrah North constituency against the TMC's cricketer-turned-politician Laxmi Ratan Shukla.
The apology from Mollah came after the Election Commission issued a show-cause notice against him for his remarks.
Molla has been fielded by the TMC from Bhangar Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district.
He had been issued the same notice earlier too and even issued a censure by the poll panel for violating the Mode Code of Conduct.
IMAGE: Actor-politician Roopa Ganguly campaigning for the BJP at a street corner in Kolkata. Photograph: @RoopaSpeaks/Twitter
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