Cong's Adhir Ranjan apologises to Derek for 'foreigner' remark

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday apologised to Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien for calling him a "foreigner".

The Congress leader called Derek O'Brien to apologise to him and also posted on X that "I conveyed my regrets to MR DEREK O'BRIEN for a word inadvertently uttered by me on him as FOREIGNER".

Sources said the TMC leader accepted the apology.

While speaking to the reporters on Thursday night in Siliguri, Chowdhury had said, "Derek O'Brien is a foreigner, he knows a lot of things. Ask him."

The statement came after Derek O'Brien blamed him for seat-sharing talks between the two parties not going through in West Bengal.

"Three reasons for the alliance not working in Bengal – Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury," O'Brien told reporters in Delhi on Thursday.

Chowdhury's comment drew flak on social media.

"How is this inclusiveness? I know @derekobrienmp and to question his nationality is really showing how intelligent this man is! Sadly such men are at the helm of decision making," Tipra Motha chairman Pradyot Manikya said in a post on X.

O'Brien said the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance had many detractors but only two -- the Bharatiya Janata Party and Chowdhury -- have repeatedly spoken out against the bloc.

O'Brien had on Thursday alleged that Chowdhury was working at the behest of the BJP.