Hindus use 'Namo' in reference to god: Manohar Parrikar

Panaji: The Hindu community uses the word "Namo" while referring to god, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the state assembly on Wednesday as legislators debated the intricacies surrounding the BJP's "NaMo" chant.

"For Hindus, Namo is god's name," Mr Parrikar said during question hour, responding to a question from Congress legislator Aleixo Reginaldo.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader quoted a Sanskrit phrase "Namo Vasudevaya namaha" and said "Namo means namaskar".

Mr Parrikar said the word "Namo" invoked the name of the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu.

At this point, Mr Lourenco said Mr Parrikar was actually equating Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi - who is also popularly referred to as NaMo - to god.

MR Parrikar said the other NaMo, to which Mr Lourenco was referring, was preparing the country to bid goodbye to the Congress.

"In a way, that NaMo is saying namaskar to the Congress," the chief minister said.