Shilpa comment costs envoy UK job

An Indian diplomat in UK has been recalled for his comment on the Shetty affair, reports Nilova R Chaudhury.

Shilpa Shetty emerged a winner from the British television reality show Celebrity Big Brother. A senior diplomat in the Indian High Commission in London, Kuldeep Bharadwaj, in contrast, has come out a loser for his comments on the Shetty affair. He has been recalled.

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Bharadwaj, the high commission's spokesman, paid for a remark he allegedly made about Anand Sharma, the minister of state in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"What can I do if Anand Sharma wants to keep an eye on Shilpa Shetty," he reportedly said about a fortnight ago, at an official briefing on the Indian government's reaction to the alleged racist attacks on Shetty.

Bhardwaj was not available when the Hindustan Times called him in London on Thursday because "he is on leave". High Commissioner Kamlesh Sharma too was unavailable for comment, his office said.

MEA spokesman Navtej Sarna said, "We do not comment on administrative affairs." On January 17, during an interaction with the media, Sharma was asked to respond to queries about Shetty. "The ministry (MEA) has sought details of the incident from our high commission in Britain. We will take appropriate action after getting all the details," the minister had said.

E-mail Nilova Roy Chaudhury:nilova@hindustantimes.com