Patna:
Two weeks later, Narendra Modi's visit to flood-ravaged Uttarakhand, made controversial by media reports that said he had rescued 15,000 people from his state in one fell swoop, still seems to have top-of-the-mind recall among politicians.
Especially the epithet Rambo to describe the alleged derring-do, which Mr Modi has not attested to, his party, the BJP points out. Congressman Manish Tewari first brought the Modi "Rambo act" into the political lexicon and it has since spawned much wordplay.
The latest to jump on to that bandwagon is Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed, who said in Patna today, "Mogambo and Rambo look good only in movies. Some leaders of the BJP are trying to portray one of its leaders as Rambo, who can climb hills and save lives of 15,000 people... one who tries to be Rambo, ends up being Mogambo."
Mogambo is one of Bollywood's most memorable screen villains, essayed brilliantly by the legendary Amrish Puri in the Shekhar Kapur-directed Mr India. Mr Ahmed's allusion - that Mr Modi will end up being villain rather than hero. The Gujarat Chief Minister is seen by many in his party as a potential candidate for Prime Minister next year and as such is the Congress' pet target.
The BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi, who has staunchly defended Mr Modi's visit in the face of many such scathing attacks from Congress leaders, said earlier this week, "People who have not shown leadership stoop low to use words such as Rambo. It's a thousand times better to be a Rambo than be a dumbo or a scambo."
Scambo, not to be found in standard dictionaries, is presumably Ms Lekhi's creative take on the many scams that have rocked the Congress-led UPA government in recent months.