Yoga guru Baba Ramdev tendered apology for his outburst against Rahul Gandhi and the Dalits. Offering his regret he said his statement had been misconstrued and that he didn't mean to disregard the Dalits. "I offer my apologies to the Dalit community if their feelings were hurt," he said.

His apology came after an FIR was registered against him in Lucknow over the comment. He said on Friday that Rahul visits the houses of Dalits in the city for "picnics and honeymoon".

The comment ruffled Congressmen’s feathers, inviting contempt from all quarters. "I will not react to this madness. People will respond," Priyanka Gandhi said.

"Ramdev's remarks are shocking. I am embarrassed that someone can make such comments and there is a political party that can embrace such an individual," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said.

Ramdev, who is stoutly supporting the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the Elections 2014, further said that Rahul was unmarried because he had not been able to find any girl. He did not spare Sonia Gandhi either. "Sonia Gandhi feels that marrying a foreigner would hurt Rahul's chances of becoming the prime minister; and that is why she wants him to first attain the top post and then marry an outsider," he said.

The Congress demanded unconditional apology from the yoga guru.

"He is a yoga guru. Does he need to say this for Dalit women? He needs to be mentally fit. (BJP's PM candidate Narendra) Modi uses Ramdev as per his convenience. We demand that Modi speak on this issue," Congress spokesperson Kumari Selja said.