India, Aug. 9 -- The state Congress has apologised to deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar for referring to her as "Goongi Gudiya" (silent doll), saying the apology was made in the interest of maintaining political decency.

State Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal told the media on Saturday that the party regrets the jibe. "I tried to speak to Sunetra ji to clear up this misunderstanding but could not establish a dialogue," he said. "I believe one must maintain decency. When the Baramati bye-election was held, the chief minister spoke to me five times and we had a good dialogue on ensuring an unopposed election.''

The "Goongi Gudiya" remark was posted on the state Congress's social media a few days ago, after Pawar, who is also the NCP c...