Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has dismissed as "hogwash" suggestions that the Congress is to blame for the controversy over his presence at Bandra-Worli Sea Link function here two days ago, and said Sonia Gandhi's party has more pressing issues to attend to than belittle him.
"The media attempts to insinuate that the Congress Party is responsible for this (row) and that it is a deliberate attempt to deface me is a lot of hogwash. The Congress is a large outfit that has governed this land for the largest tenure in the political history of our nation and continues to do so," the actor said in his latest blog post.
"It has many important and more valuable issues to attend to than be interested in puny little me. These assumptions and accusations being made by the media are completely wrong and have no bearing. They certainly do not have my acceptance or my belief in them."
The filmstar said he was invited by Maharashtra's Minister in-charge of the Public Works Department to attend a function for the inauguration of the remaining four lanes of the cable stayed bridge on Wednesday.
"The Minister wrote to me on his formal letter head and when I went there, was greeted with grace and honour and respect, not just by the Minister, but by the honourable Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and all other distinguished guests and dignitaries," Big B said.
"They graciously included me in all the formalities of the event. I thanked them for it. Never during my entire stay at the event was I ever made to feel that I was unwanted or that my presence was a hindrance," the Bollywood icon said.
Hitting out at the media, Bachchan said that few insidious, desperate to seek titillating content, did harp on his presence at the event, but he did not find their query worthy of response. Referring to the controversy that followed, he said, "All else that has followed is really something that those that invited me need to answer, not me. I had no grudges, nor did I feel humiliated at any time, and nor do I have any regrets."
Bachchan's presence at the function in company of Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had kicked up a row with a section of the party in Mumbai reportedly expressing its unhappiness over invitation to the actor, who is brand ambassador of BJP-ruled Gujarat. PTI
