BJP demands apology from 'Shiv Bhakt' Rahul on Tharoor's remark

Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad has demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the "despicable and deplorable" comment made by Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"(Shashi) Tharoor is charge sheeted in a serious allegation of murder. I don't want to give him more prestige by responding to his baseless allegations but the larger issue is that while Congress president Rahul Gandhi claims himself to be a Shiv Bhakt, one of his leaders have almost abused the sanctity of Shivling or Mahadev. This is despicable, deplorable and downright vilification of the great god of Hindu faith. Rahul, please reply to the very horrific denunciation of Lord Mahadev by giving an apology," he said while addressing a press conference here on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, while addressing a gathering, Tharoor raked up controversy by comparing Prime Minister Modi to a "scorpion sitting on a Shivling". He noted, "There is an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) source to a journalist, that, Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivling, you can't remove him with your hand and you cannot hit it with a chappal either," he noted.

Reacting to Tharoor's comment, Prasad opined: "It is a tragedy of our times that Congress, which claims to represent the heritage of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, has become a party of abuse and baseless allegations under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. The entire country is watching the way he is seeking to shower sub-standard shameless abuses on our Prime Minister, who is also a global leader.