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Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar Says He Isn't Misogynist, Just Misquoted

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar Says He Isn't Misogynist, Just Misquoted
NEW DELHI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 9: Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar (R) and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan, on November 9, 2014 in New Delhi, India. With 21 new faces inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi Council of Ministers on Sunday, the strength of his team now stands at 66. This is the first expansion since Modi took oath with 45 ministers on May 26. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
NEW DELHI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 9: Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar (R) and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan, on November 9, 2014 in New Delhi, India. With 21 new faces inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi Council of Ministers on Sunday, the strength of his team now stands at 66. This is the first expansion since Modi took oath with 45 ministers on May 26. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

PANAJI — Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today denied having made the alleged remarks on the complexion of nurses protesting in the state and said he was misquoted. "I have not made any such comments. What I said is being quoted wrongly," Parsekar told.

One of the nurses attached to 108 ambulance service had yesterday alleged that Parsekar advised them that they should not stage hunger strike in the sun.

"When we met the Chief Minister over our demands at Ponda, he said the girls should not sit on hunger strike in hot sun as their complexion will become dark and they will not find a good bridegroom," nurse Anusha Sawant had said.

However, Parsekar said he knew the protesting nurse and hence remarked that she appeared different after sitting in the sun.

"I never spoke about the marriage proposals or any such thing. It was just a passing remark because I had seen that girl earlier and found a difference when I saw her again," the chief minister said.

He said that few of the protesters had recorded the conversation on their mobile phones. "If anyone feels that I have made any such comments, they can check the recordings," Parsekar said.

In Goa, the nurses and others workers attached to 108 ambulance service, a government-approved facility run by a private firm, are on hunger strike for the last few days. They have alleged that the firm makes available only 13 ambulances, though it is being paid for 33.

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