PM Modi a scorpion sitting on 'shivling': Tharoor

Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor on Sunday, quoting an unnamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) source, launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi while likening him with a scorpion sitting on a 'shivling'.

Speaking about his book 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister' at the Bengaluru Literature Festival, Tharoor asserted that the "personality cult of Prime Minister Modi has not gone down well with the RSS and has been a cause of frustration within its ranks".

He elucidated, "There's an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to a journalist, who expressed their frustration to curb Modi -- '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' (slipper) either."

Tharoor added, "If you try to touch the scorpion, you will be stung, but if you hit a shivling with the chappal, it undermines all the sacred tenets of the faith. That may well be an interesting clue to the rather complex dynamics that exists between the Hindutva movement and the Moditva expression on it."

Continuing his tirade, the Congress leader said that he focused more on the Prime Minister's personal character rather than the Hindutva movement in his book.

"He is from the Hindutva movement but he's not imprisoned by it. Moditva, that is built on Modi's cult of personality, is what I analyse more in the book because of his personal intimidation and character," Tharoor elaborated.

Giving a summary of his book to the audience, Tharoor informed: "The first part of the book is a biography of PM Modi. Then, I analyse the Modi regime in four sections - the Modification of India, which has been altered by the nature of forces unleashed by this government such as mob lynchings and cow vigilantism, Governments and governance, which explains the style of governance adopted by the Modi government in the last four-and-half years. This includes demonetisation without being consulted with the cabinet, the home minister doesn't even know that the CBI directors are being removed; the defence minister doesn't know that the Rafale deal for 120 aircraft has mysteriously changed to 36 aircraft and our foreign minister doesn't know what changes Modi is making in the foreign policy commitment."

"Next is on Modinomics, which involves the disastrous demonetisation and the botched rollout of GST and lastly, his foreign policy, which I have been personally disappointed with," he said.

The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram further slammed Prime Minister Modi-led central government for its souring ties with its neighbouring countries, saying that the foreign policy cannot be made "on a whim or impulse".

"We have the worst of our relations with our neighbours. See, the Maldives, who is cocking a snook in India, cancelling impunity contracts to Indian companies, advertisement vacancies with words clearly stated - 'Indian citizens need not apply'. We have seen the shambles of relations with Nepal, our ties have soured with Nepal opening up its northern borders to the Chinese. We have seen setback after setback with Sri Lanka. And we have this peculiar relation with Pakistan. There are lots of ups and downs than a child yo-yo," Tharoor said.

He further alleged that various institutions such as the Election Commission, Supreme Court, CBI and others were not freely functioning in the last five years, and that its integrity was being repeatedly undermined by the National Democratic Alliance government.

Expressing concern over the current law and order situation, Tharoor asserted that Prime Minister Modi did not utter a word on the rising incidents of mob lynchings and cow vigilantism in the country.