Bharatiya Janata Part leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday took back his statement that actor Shah Rukh Khan’s “heart lies in Pakistan”, after his tweets from the day before drew widespread condemnation. The former minister from Madhya Pradesh tweeted “"I did not intent to hurt anyone. I take back my tweets,” and added that if India had been intolerant, Khan would not have been the country’s most popular actor after Amitabh Bachchan.

In addition to other parties, senior BJP leaders had expressed outrage at his statements, even as the Narendra Modi-led government struggles to control controversial remarks by many under its fold. Khan, on Monday, had cautioned against religious intolerance in the country, saying it would “take us back to the dark ages”.