The BJP in Assam on Monday said there was nothing controversial in the reported remarks of its Guwahati Lok Sabha candidate Bhupen Hazarika mentioning President APJ Abdul Kalam.
"Hazarika made a passing remark on the President's election to the highest office as a choice of the BJP and it had nothing to do with the ongoing poll campaign," party's state unit vice-president Dhruba Baishya said.
Hazarika, who was addressing party workers and not an election campaign meeting at Boko, made the remark only to drive home the point that the BJP was not a communal party, but a secular one as was evident from its choice of its presidential candidate.
"There is nothing controversial about the casual remark as Hazarika is not campaigning or fighting the elections in the name of the President," he said adding "vested interests are deliberately misquoting the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee out of context to malign his 'popular image'".