TDP MP Murali Mohan visited the Lord Venkateswara temple atop Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday morning and apologised for unintentionally referring to the deity as 'Venkanna Chowdary'.
The MP had made the comments last month, while speaking at Rajamahendravaram about the results of the recently-held Karnataka Assembly Elections.
Addressing a gathering and referring to the BJP, the MP had said that the 'gimmicks' of the national party may work in north India but will not work in south India and reminded them that regional parties were working here.
Referring to their defeat, he first mentions Venkateswara Swamy before stating that the reason for BJP's defeat was "our Venkanna Chowdary...Venkanna....Venkate
While it was an obvious slip of the tongue, Murali Mohan's comments had gone viral on social media and were the subject of several memes on Facebook and Twitter.
While he apologised for his slip of tongue soon after the comment, many continued to make fun of the MP for attaching a 'caste' to the god.
In the Telugu states, the 'Chowdary' surname is largely used for people from the Kamma community.
"Recently I made a small mistake, instead of saying Venkanna Swamy, I unintentionally called him Venkanna Chowdary due to a tongue slip. A mistake happened and I prayed to him after going home, asking for his forgiveness," he told reporters after visiting the temple.
"However, today, especially I came here to pay a visit to his house and would also like to clarify that I didn't intend to attribute caste to god. I do not have such corrupt mentality," he added.
The TDP pulled out of the central government and BJP-led NDA in March over the issue of special status to the state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his party leaders have since been targeting the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for going back on their promise to accord special status