Addressing US president 'Barack' "improper", says Digvijaya Singh

BHOPAL: The blossoming chemistry between the two might have led Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address US President Barack Obama by his first name during their joint media interaction on Sunday, but Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh is not impressed and finds it "improper".

One of the fiercest critics of Modi, Singh also feels that the suit the Prime Minister wore during his talks with Obama that day which had his full name embroidered on it, reflected his "megalomania".

"It is not proper to address the Head of a State in such a manner....It is improper," Singh told reporters today.

"Barack and me have forged a friendship. There is openess with which we talk, we can talk comfortably over phone, joke with each other... This chemistry has not only brought me and Barack close or Washington and Delhi nearer but also the people of two countries. This personal chemistry matters a lot," Modi had said during the media interaction where he addressed the US President by his first name at least thrice.

Reciprocating the camaraderie, Obama had also addressed the Prime Minister as 'Modi', while referring to their personal friendship which they had been able to build "in a very brief amount of time".

Modi's sartorial taste had also come in for praise from Obama, who had at the Presidential banquet hosted for him on Sunday evening recalled a headline back home which asked who is the new fashion icon, referring to Indian leader, other than Michelle Obama and said "I was thinking of wearing a Modi kurta myself".

The pin-stripe bandhgala suit that Modi wore had his full name--Narendra Damodardas Modi-embroidered on the stripes and Singh found it reflective of the Prime Minister's "megalomania".

"I have been saying that he is megalomaniac. He believes in self praise," he said.