Vijay Darda with Narendra Modi
Vijay Darda, the Congressman who hailed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as a "lion," now says those words were not uttered in praise.
"I called him the lion of Gujarat...I didn't say he was a national saint," Mr Darda said today.
The Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra had said at a function in Ahmedabad on Sunday that, "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." Today he qualified that statement pointing out that the lion is a carnivore and "can be a maneater too."
Mr Darda says his party has sought no explanation. His party, the Congress, said today that it had asked for facts to be ascertained before it took "a view on it."
"As far as Vijay Darda is concerned, the AICC in charge concerned has been asked to examine the facts. Once he is cognisant with the facts, the process, if at all it has to go further, will be decided," Congress spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters in New Delhi.
The MP, who is also the editor-in-chief of a media house, was sharing the dais with Mr Modi at the function when he made his "lion" remark. Mr Modi, not one to let go of an opportunity, immediately took a swipe 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.
He also sought to score political points, saying, "You will be shocked when you know the type of decisions that are being taken by the central government. 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.
(with PTI inputs)