Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed regret over his controversial statement calling the people of Gujarat ‘illiterate’, and said he has always had and will continue to have the highest of respect for the people of the state.

Mallikarjun Kharge said, ‘Some remarks of mine in a recent election speech in Kerala are being deliberately misinterpreted. Even so, I express my sincere regret. It was never my intention to hurt the sentiments of the people of Gujarat for whom I have always had and will continue to have the highest of respect.’

This situation arose amid a political row triggered by Kharge’s remarks during a rally in Kerala's Idukki district on Sunday, when he said that people in Kerala were 'educated and clever' and could not be misled, unlike those who were 'illiterate' in Gujarat and some other places. He made the remark while alleging that both Modi and Vijayan were following the same path, with no difference between them except the parties they lead.

The statement sparked sharp reactions from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which called it ‘shameless, demeaning and utterly despicable.’ They also had demanded an apology from him.

While, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to clarify whether they agreed with Kharge’s statement.