RS Prasad making issue out of 6-year-old quote: Tharoor

Soon after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad lambasted Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor for his earlier comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the latter on Sunday claimed that the Union Minister was making an issue out of a six-year-old quote.

"This comment (not by me) has been in the public domain for six years. RS Prasad making an issue of a six-year-old quote shows how little new the BJP has to offer the nation. As for media subserving the BJP's desire for "controversy", when will this "profession" develop any self-respect?" Tharoor tweeted.

He also tweeted the article that carried the comment as an excerpt, and said, "In view of the unseemly demonisation of an out of context remark today involving a scorpion metaphor, my book #TheParadoxicalPrimeMinister cites & footnotes this article - please see the last paragraph of this article."

Earlier in the day, Tharoor, while addressing a gathering, had raked up controversy by comparing Prime Minister Modi to a "scorpion sitting on a Shivling".

"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.

In response, Prasad demanded an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi on the "despicable and deplorable" comment made by Tharoor.

"(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.