Ahmedabad:
In a major embarrassment for the Congress, an MP belonging to the party today praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a "lion".
Vijay Darda, a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, who is also the editor-in-chief of a media house, made the remarks at an award function in Ahmedabad which was also attended by the Chief Minister. Commending Mr Modi for his work ethics, Mr Darda, who shared the dias with the former, said, "The kind of environment created over here...I know that this is due to the roar of Gujarat's lion... Modi's commitment and dedication towards work bears resemblance to that of a lion."
Realising the enormity of Mr Darda's blunder, Mr Modi was quick to take a dig at the Congress. "It won't be surprising to read tomorrow's breaking news that Darda has been served a show-cause notice from the party high command for praising Modi," the Chief Minister said, tongue-firmly-in-cheek.
What's more, he also pounced upon the opportunity to score some political points as he targeted the Congress-led government at the Centre for some of its policies. "You will be shocked when you know the type of decisions that are being taken by the central government. Mr. Vijay Darda, a Congress leader is present over here and I think it is right to say what I feel. They have given a slogan of Pink Revolution and the Indian government thinks that to earn foreign exchange, if they have to export cow meat then they can earn more". Pink Revolution, envisaged on the lines of the White Revolution involving milk and milk products - aims at enhancing the quality and investment in the meat and poultry processing sector.
Mr Darda later retracted his statement, insisting that he was quoted out of context. "I was just expressing my heart-felt feelings at a religious function...In our culture, we always speak good about the host and this is a religious function, so none of my comments should be misconstrued as political remarks.
"I haven't called him a national saint. If you would had heard my speech in the Parliament, then I had told something about Narendra Modi that with lots of expectations, his father must have kept his name as Narendra, so that he will follow the path of Vivekananda," Mr Darda said.
A red-faced Congress reacted cautiously, saying it would wait for a report on the matter before contemplating action. "Let us ascertain the facts from the in-charge of party affairs in the state. Only then it could be seen what could be done," Janardan Dwivedi, Congress General Secretary, said. Senior party leader Mohan Prakash is in-charge of party affairs in Maharashtra as well as Gujarat.