Senior Karnataka Congress leader BK Hariprasad on Wednesday apologised to the sex workers’ community for his ‘prostitute’ remark during his speech in Hosapete, saying, his statements had been “misconstrued.”
Hariprasad, on Tuesday, had stoked a controversy by making derogatory remarks against Congress MLAs who joined BJP. Slamming state minister Anand Singh and other turncoats for switching parties, Leader of the Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council Hariprasad had compared them with “prostitutes”.
Anand Singh quit Congress in 2019 to join the BJP. He was among the 17 MLAs of the then Congress and JD(S)-led coalition government in Karnataka who resigned from the party and crossed over to the BJP.
“When you didn’t give a clear mandate, we formed a coalition govt. We call by different names a woman who sells her body for food, we call her a prostitute. I leave it to you what you’ll call MLAs who sold themselves. Teach a lesson to local MLA in polls,” Hariprasad had said during a public meeting in Hosapete.
Taking to Twitter, Hariprasad apologised for his remark, saying, “There is great respect for women and the sex worker community who live with self-respect. The reference to sex workers in my Hospet speech is being misconstrued and created an unnecessary controversy. I am sorry if my words, which are not malicious, have offended the sex worker community.”
