Haryana Election 2019: Manohar Lal Khattar was campaigning for the BJP in Haryana's Sonipat (File)

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has been criticized for his offensive comment on Congress President Sonia Gandhi during an election rally on Sunday. The comment showed "the anti-women character" of the BJP, says a furious Congress. Mr Khattar was campaigning in Haryana's Sonipat when he made the remark.

"After the defeat in the Lok Sabha election, Rahul (Rahul Gandhi) quit as the party president and said the new Congress chief would not be from the Gandhi family. We welcomed his decision. It is good to end dynasty politics. Then, these people started searching (for the new president) across the country. After three months, they made Sonia Gandhi the Congress chief. It was like khoda pahaad, nikli chuhiya, woh bhi mari hui... (like digging up a mountain to find a mouse, that too a dead one)," he said.

The Congress has demanded an apology from the Chief Minister.

"The comment made by the BJP's Chief Minister is not only cheap and objectionable, it also shows the anti-women character of the BJP. We condemn Chief Minister ML Khattar's remark and demand an immediate apology from him," the Congress tweeted in Hindi.

Taking responsibility for the Congress's loss in the national election, Rahul Gandhi had resigned from the party's top job, insisting that "accountability" must be maintained. He had also ruled out his mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's for the post, underscoring that the Congress must look for a non-Gandhi leader.

After consultations that went on for months, the party's top decision-making body, the Working Committee, asked Sonia Gandhi to take over as interim Congress president.

The BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accuses the Congress of practicing dynasty politics for having several members of the Nehru-Gandhi family as its president in the last few decades.

Mr Khattar, who became the Chief Minister of Haryana in 2014, is known for controversial comments. He was widely criticised for his recent remark on Kashmiri women after the scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir in August.

"Now some people say Kashmir is open; they (brides) will be brought from there. But jokes apart, if (sex) ratio is improved, then there will be a right balance in society," he had said.

Haryana will vote for a new assembly on October 21 and the counting will take place three days later.