On Tuesday, August 25, the deputy chief minister offered to apologise over the incident, but claimed he meant to target the BJP by singing the prayer song in the Assembly.

“Last week during the discussion on the stampede incident in the Assembly, to pull the leg of Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, I recited two or three lines of the RSS prayer. My intention was not to praise them. I just tried to pull their (BJP) leg,” Shivakumar said.

He said his “passing reference” in the Assembly was cut and linked to something else, and was made into national news.

“I have got followers and friends across party lines from different political parties. I don’t want to hurt anyone, I don’t want to hurt their feelings. If anyone has been hurt, I feel sorry. I would like to apologise to all of them,” he said.

He further reaffirmed his allegiance to the national party and the Gandhi family, saying the relationship was like God and devotee. “I’m a born Congressman, I will die as a Congressman,” he said.

Responding to a question on criticism against his “Soft Hindutva”, Shivakumar said, “I’m not ready to leave my religion, I’m a born Hindu. How can I? But I believe in every religion, Christianity, Muslims, Jains…. I’m a secular man, I believe in humanity.”