Minister who insulted Daler Mehndi refuses to apologise:Says, ‘I will resign instead,’ denies Mika Singh’s team’s claim that he apologised to the singer

Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal has said that he would resign from his post but would not apologise to singer Daler Mehndi over the recent controversy during the singer’s performance in the state. According to a report by The Free Press Journal, Uniyal also denied apologising to Daler. Earlier, Mika Singh’s team had claimed that the minister had apologised to the singer following the incident. The controversy began when Uniyal accused Daler Mehndi on stage of performing after consuming alcohol during a musical event in Uttarakhand. His remarks sparked a reaction, with the singer’s team later claiming that the minister had apologised for his comments. ‘I will resign even if the party high command asks me to’ Speaking in Dehradun, Minister Subodh Uniyal said he would choose to resign rather than apologise if the Bharatiya Janata Party’s senior leadership directed him to apologise to Daler Mehndi. He said self-respect was more important than any position or anything else in life and that he would not compromise on it. Minister made serious allegations after climbing onto the stage The controversy began on 18 October during the ‘Siddhapeeth Maa Kunjapuri Tourism and Development Fair’ in Tehri. The singer was performing intermittently when Uttarakhand Health Minister Subodh Uniyal came onto the stage and reprimanded him, saying, “You are drinking alcohol and fooling people, and you are not even singing. You know, don’t you, that a singer was beaten and driven away from here? He was beaten so badly that even his father cannot come here now.” He also claimed that Daler Mehndi had arrived drunk and was only lip-syncing instead of singing live. The incident drew widespread criticism after its video went viral on social media. Mika Singh had spoken about Daler’s surgery After the incident, Daler Mehndi’s brother and singer Mika Singh strongly objected to the minister’s behaviour on social media and demanded that he apologise publicly. Mika said that Daler Mehndi was unwell but performed for around one and a half hours despite this. Mika also claimed that Daler had never consumed alcohol in his life. He further said that if an apology was not offered, artists would stop visiting Uttarakhand. After the video went viral on social media, the entire Bollywood industry came out in support of Daler. Several celebrities, including Shilpa Shetty, Rajpal Yadav, Anupam Kher, Badshah, Shaan and Kapil Sharma, strongly condemned the minister’s behaviour. Denies claim of seeking forgiveness over the phone Minister Subodh Uniyal’s statement came after a recent claim by Mika Singh’s team that Uniyal had called Daler Mehndi and apologised for the incident. However, Uniyal’s latest statement to the media in Dehradun completely rejected the claims made by Mika Singh’s team.