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The CPI(M) had slammed the remarks as sexist and demanded an unconditional apology from him. “What I have said is right. I stand by my words and have not insulted anyone”, Ramachandran told reporters, a day after his words kicked up a storm. “I am not going to apologise. Nothing doing”, he said. The former union minister said some words from his speech had been ‘cherry-picked’ by the media and a campaign was going on against him and asked what was wrong with his remarks.
The credit for successfully tackling the Nipah virus, which claimed 17 lives in2018, should go to doctors, nurses, Asha and Anganwadi workers, he said, adding the minister had only held review meetings at the guest house and had not done anything appreciable.
The Congress veteran also referred to articles in various foreign media, describing Shailaja as “Rock Star” and “Corona slayer” and asked what was wrong with words like “Rani” and “Rajakumari” and said he stood by his remarks. As he faced widespread criticism over the remarks, Ramachandran said he was not a person to make statements against women and had always stood in the forefront for their welfare and respected them.
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