New Delhi: Putting to rest the controversy surrounding his remarks on the Constitution, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde tendered an apology this morning. “My words have been twisted. I have never said anything like that. If someone was hurt by my comments, I tender an apology,’ Hegde said in Lok Sabha.

“I deeply respect the Constitution, Parliament and Baba Saheb Ambedkar. The Constitution is supreme for me, there can be no question of it, as a citizen I can never go against it,” he said.

The Minister had kicked up a major controversy by claiming the BJP will change the Constitution and remove the word “secular” from it. Speaking at an event in Koppal district on Dec. 24, Hegde had said he respects the Constitution, but “it will be changed in days to come”. “We are here for that and that is why we have come,” he had said.

He had said he would feel happy if someone “claims with pride” that he is a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Lingayat, or a Brahmin, or a Hindu.

“I feel happy because he (the person) knows about his blood, but I don’t know what to call those who claim themselves secular. Those who, without knowing about their parental blood, call themselves secular, they don’t have their own identity. They don’t know about their parentage, but they are intellectuals,” he had said.