Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Wednesday courted controversy after making a remark about Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in which he asked whether the party would have accepted her if she had not been white-skinned.

"If Rajiv Gandhi would've married a Nigerian and Sonia Gandhi wasn't white-skinned, would Congress have accepted her?" Giriraj Singh is seen saying on camera, with a huge chuckle.

Congress leaders lashed out at Giriraj Singh for his remark. "It is for Mr Modi to reflect what kind of bizarre creatures there are in the government," Congress leader Manish Tewari said. Digvijaya Singh demanded action agains Giriraj Singh, according to TV reports.

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat also criticised Giriraj Singh's comments and said that his remark was worrisome. "It is a racist comment. It is the contempt of a working woman. He is talking as if marriage is the best option for a working woman...In our country, there is no code of conduct which can control such remarks, which is unfortunate."

He also slammed Rahul Gandhi for his 'leave of absence' and said his disappreance is like the disappearance of the Malaysian plane MH370. "If Congress had been in power instead of us and Rahul Gandhi was the Prime Minister and then, for some reason, he would have disappeared for 43-47 days, what would have happened? The entire Budget session got over but where is Rahul Gandhi?

"The absence of Rahul Gandhi is like the disappearance of a Malaysian plane which has still not been located," said Singh. "Nobody is ready to represent Congress. This is unfortunate for the Congress and a joke for the country."