Modi lauded the Punjab Chief Minister as the 'Nelson Mandela of India' at an event to pay tribute to Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan on his 113th birth anniversary, saying "he has spent so many years in prison and that too for political reasons".
The comment was panned all-round with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeting, "Badal is the Nelson Mandela of India?
Captain Amarinder Singh, the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, said on the micro-blogging site, "Who says our PM has no sense of humour. Let's hope, like Mandela, Bharat Ratna/Nobel Prize next for Badal".
The chief of Punjab Congress, Pratap Singh Bajwa, meanwhile, sought to charge the Badal administration with being inefficient, saying, "Under Badal Govt farmers are dying, 70 per cent youth of Punjab is hooked to drugs & PM Modi calls Mr Badal India's Nelson Mandela."
Similar posts were seen on Facebook taking potshots at Modi over his comment.
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