Gujarat CM Modi clarifies 'puppy' analogy

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday clarified his 'puppy' analogy, saying people are the best judge.

"In our culture every form of life is valued and worshipped. My original interview with Reuters http://nm4.in/138jss0 ...People are best judge," he tweeted.

Modi has come under sharp criticism from the ruling Congress Party at the Centre over his latest interview to Reuters news agency in which he said that he had done 'absolutely right thing' in 2002 when the state was hit by riots and that an SIT set up by the Supreme Court had given him a 'thoroughly clean chit'.

"We are condemning the analogy which he has made. It shows the kind of mindset Mr. Modi has. This is totally against the idea of India; India is not what he thinks. The analogy which he has drawn, the parallels which he has drawn is not the idea of India," said AICC General Secretary and in-charge of Communication Department. Ajay Maken.

Maken said even former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said at the time of Gujarat riots that he failed to implement a 'Raj Dharma'.

"And not only Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji at that time, but even as recent as this month only the Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that the 2002 riots is a result of failed Gujarat model of governance. So, we are not only saying so, but his own party leaders, fellow Chief Ministers are saying so," said Maken.

"But using a riot wherein thousands of people died, using an analogy drawing parallels the way he has done is something which shows his mindset and this is totally against the idea of India which we strongly condemn," he added.

The Goa Chief Minister had in a recent interview to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta for NDTV's Walk the Talk programme said that the 2002 riots in Gujarat were a clear-cut case of administrative failure and bad example of governance.

The Gujarat Chief Minister, who was very recently appointed the BJP's campaign committee chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, in an exclusive interview to Reuters news agency at his official residence in Gandhinagar, said that he had been given a clean chit by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team.

"Another thing... someone else is driving a car and we're sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will be painful or not? Of course, it is. If I'm a chief minister or not, I'm a human being. If something bad happens anywhere, it is natural to be sad," he said, while defending himself.

Modi described himself as a Hindu nationalist because he was a born Hindu.

"I am nationalist. I am patriotic. Nothing is wrong. I'm a born Hindu. Nothing is wrong. So, I am a Hindu nationalist so yes, you can say I am a Hindu nationalist because I am a born Hindu. I am patriotic, so nothing is wrong in it. As far as progressive, development oriented, workaholic, whatever they say, this is what they see. So there's no contradiction between the two," he said.