New Delhi: Venkaiah Naidu owes Parliament an apology, said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, after the senior minister took a swipe at her son Rahul, who has taken a "leave of absence" for a part of this parliamentary session to "introspect", according to the party.
"Self-introspect if you can do it here and if you can't, then go somewhere far and do it," Mr Naidu, who is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said yesterday during a discussion in the Lok Sabha.
Mr Naidu told Congress leaders today that he "didn't intend to hurt their feelings" and asked them to bury the "misunderstanding."
In Parliament, a united opposition raised slogans and demanded that Mr Naidu withdraw his remarks. The protests forced two adjournments in the Lok Sabha.
"I didn't say anything unparliamentary. Some friends told me they were hurt. I have one weakness, I speak facts, but I never meant to hurt anyone," Mr Naidu said amid slogan-shouting.
Mr Gandhi ,the 44-year-old Vice President of the Congress, will return after two weeks, his party has said, without elaborating on whether he has travelled abroad during the budget session of parliament.
Senior party leaders have said he is using his break to contemplate the party's future and strategy. Mr Gandhi has led the Congress to a series of electoral wipe-outs starting with the national election last year, when the party collated its worst-ever performance.
Sources say that in April, Mr Gandhi will take over from his mother as President of the Congress.