Mulayam Singh's son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav reacted meekly to questions on his father's statement.
"I don't know in what context he said so. In election season no one knows what media shows," was all that he could tell reporters.
Demanding an unconditional apology from Mulayam Singh, Sanya Rizvi, a business woman in her 30s from Indiranagar, also sought his disqualification from electoral politics.