BJP demands recall of Envoy Sen for headless chickens remark

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded the recall of Indian Ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, for allegedly calling parliamentarians headless chickens.

New Delhi, Aug 22 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded the recall of Indian Ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, for allegedly calling parliamentarians "headless chickens".

BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said that Sen should be removed immediately, no matter if he had made the comment off or on the record.

"Even if the statement had come off the record, it would have been equally serious. The Foreign Minister has already said that if the statement is true, then it is unwarranted and unacceptable. We also said that if it is unwarranted and unacceptable, then the Ambassador should be immediately recalled," said Swaraj.

"The statement of the journalist who has taken that interview and published it has been very categorical. He said that whenever Sen speaks off the record, he mentions it that he is speaking off the record or just explaining the background. While giving this interview, he neither said that he was speaking off the record nor that he is saying it in his personal capacity," she added.

Sushma said now the journalist has said that he stands by his story.

"He said I was neither misquoting him nor misunderstood him. After that the entire environment changed," she said.

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he had spoken to Sen and asked him to issue a clarification as the ambassador said, he had been misquoted in some places and some comments were published "either deliberately or through misunderstanding".

The government said it regretted the comments if they were true.

Sen, in an interview published on Indian news website rediff.com on Monday, defended the controversial civilian nuclear cooperation deal.

"It has been approved here by the President, and there it's been approved by the Indian cabinet,' rediff.com quoted Sen as saying in Washington.

"So, why do you have all this running around like headless chickens, looking for a comment here, or comment there, and these little storms in a tea-cup?" Sen said.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Saba, L K Advani demanded that the full text of interview be made available to the House.

Condemning the comments, the Left parties said parliamentary affairs was beyond the envoy's domain and that he must be recalled.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said there was no difference of opinion between the Government and Opposition on this issue.

Meanwhile, Sen has apologised over his comments, and said that the remark "running round like headless chickens" concerned some of his media friends, and not the MPs.

Sen also said that he had no intention of casting aspersions on any individual or organisation. "However, if I have unwittingly hurt any sentiments, I offer my unqualified apologies," he said.

ANI