New Delhi, Mar 18: JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday was forced to clarify his "I know what you are" remark directed at Smriti Irani after finance minister Arun Jaitley strongly objected to his jibe in Rajya Sbaha.
"I regret (the controversy). I respect her," Yadav said in Rajya Sabha.
The JD(U) leader said he had greatest respect for Smriti and claimed that he was the first person to defend her when objections were raised on her degree certificate.
"I was the first one to defend Smriti Irani, when questions were raised over her degree," Sharad Yadav said.
Sharad Yadav was forced to respond after Jaitley said that his remarks had created an improper impression.Yadav's remarks were reported in the newspapers while these have been expunged from the records of proceedings of the house.
Yadav said he holds two women ministers in the BJP-led government - commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Irani, in high esteem.
"I consider Sitharaman as the best minister and competent," he said, adding when the controversy over Irani's degree broke, he had defended her saying he himself was "an engineer of Political Science but had never studied it."
"I was the first person to defend her then," he said. A major controversy had broken out late last week after Yadav had commented on the complexion of women from a particular part of the country.
When the issue was raised in the House by Irani, DMK member Kanimozhi and some others on Monday, Yadav had remained defiant and unapologetic and had reacted sharply against the HRD Minister saying "I know what kind of person you are."
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