From 'Satyameva Jayate' to 'I'm Sorry': How a tweet by Rahul Gandhi made CP Joshi's cookie crumble

Reprimanded by his party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader CP Joshi has apologised for his class slur attack at the Prime Minister and at senior BJP leader Uma Bharti.

Taking to Twitter, CP Joshi has written:

"Respecting the feelings of Congress's ideology and the workers, I am sorry to say that if a section of society has been hurt my statement, I express regret for it."

The apology by CP Joshi came mere minutes after Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to reprimand him, writing:

This translates as: "The statement of CP Joshi was contrary to the ideology of the Congress party. Party leaders should not make any such statement that any section of the society should be hurt. While respecting the principles of Congress, the spirit of the workers, Joshiji must surely realize the mistake. He should express regret over their statement.

READ: SHAMEFUL: Congress' CP Joshi Unleashes Class Slur At PM Modi & Uma Bharti, Says 'Only Brahmins Know Hinduism'

The entire exchange marks a sharp departure from Joshi's previous stand on his remarks, wherein he had defended them, saying:

READ: "Apologise To Him!": Gujarat CM On Raj Babbar's Attack On Narendra Modi Citing PM's Mother

On Thursday, Republic TV had broken a video of CP Joshi where the Congress leader had directed class and caste slurs at the Prime Minister and Uma Bharti, and questioned non-Brahmins having knowledge of Hinduism.

"People from (unclear) who are present here, does anyone know the caste of Uma Bharti?  What is the caste of Ritambhara? In this country if there is anyone who knows about religion it is the Pandits. Intellectuals, Pandits & Brahmins. It is very weird that Uma Bharti who belongs to the lodi samaj is talking about Hindu religion. Sadhvi ji also belongs to a different religion and she's talking about Hindu religion too. Narendra Modi belongs to some other religion and talks about Hinduism. This isn't the brahmins' job. Brahmin don't understand this. In the last 50 years Brahmins have lost their mind", CP Joshi had said.