New Delhi, May 6: The BJP landed in a spot when one of its most articulate and telegenic members, Shaina NC, tweeted in sympathy with Salman Khan.

Seconds after the court upheld all charges against the star, she tweeted: "Sad sad sad as we accept the honourable courts verdict only hope and pray for least sentence."

Her remark provoked protests from social media trolls, including Bangalore-based writer Rupa Subramanya. She tweeted: "ShainaNC instead of saying justice took its course, bemoans #SalmanKhan verdict. Wrong message. Shameful."

Rupa's post was retweeted several times. Vijay Chauthaiwale, a close Narendra Modi aide, pasted it on his Facebook page.

Late in the evening, Shaina disavowed her first reaction in a blog posted on a newspaper site. Titled "No one is above the law", she stated: "As human beings, we can and must feel sympathy for Salman Khan's family for they are innocent but then so were the victims. A crime was committed even if unintentionally and there are consequences to be faced."

The Mumbai-based Shaina is the Maharashtra BJP treasurer and is often seen in TV debates on the state's politics. But a central media cell member said she was not a designated spokesperson. "She herself participates in debates, she is not asked to," a Maharashtra BJP official said.

National spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said: "Individuals in a party can have opinions on the matter.... As a party, we do not comment on court judgments."

Shaina, a fashion designer, counts Bollywood stars among her close friends. She said her Salman tweet was "not even remotely out-of-sync with general sentiments". BJP sources said Maharashtra leaders advised her to "distance" herself from it to spare the party "embarrassment".

Not that the BJP was not associated with Salman's family. His father Salim Khan had batted for Modi when he flagged his national ambitions but couldn't shed the baggage of the Gujarat communal violence.

Salman had met Modi in Gandhinagar when he was the chief minister and later in Delhi after he became the Prime Minister. But he never unequivocally endorsed his candidacy for the top job.

The Congress was discomfited when Milind Deora, a former Mumbai MP, tweeted that Salman's sentence was a "major setback".

Later, he clarified: "Empathising with a friend doesn't equal disrespecting the verdict or showing apathy for those who were killed."

In Mumbai, Shah Rukh Khan had gone in the early hours of Wednesday to meet Salman. So had director David Dhawan.