'Narendra Modi like a Scorpion sitting on a Shivling': Shashi Tharoor quotes a RSS leader

Outspoken Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sparked another controversy yesterday when he likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a scorpion sitting on a Shivling. Speaking at the Bengaluru Literary Festival, Tharoor claimed that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling".

"Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivling. You cannot remove him with your hand and you cannot hit it with a 'chappal' (slipper) either," Tharoor said, recalling what an RSS member had told a journalist in 2012.

"There is an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to journalist Vinod Jose of 'The Caravan', who expressed their frustration with their inability to curb Modi," he said.




The remark by the RSS source depicted the "complex" dynamics that exist between the "Hindutva movement and the Moditva expression of it", he added.

Reacting on Tharoor's remarks, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Tharoor had disrespected Lord Shiva and sought an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Responding to Prasad, Tharoor said that his comment quoting an unnamed RSS source on Modi had been in public domain for six years.

"This comment (not by me) has been in the public domain for six years. R.S. Prasad making an issue of a six-year-old quote shows how little new the BJP has to offer the nation," tweeted Tharoor.

Tharoor also shared the link of "The Caravan" article in 2012, which quotes an RSS leader using the scorpion metaphor to describe Modi.


This is the second time in recent months when Tharoor has landed in controversy over his remarks on the prime minister.

Earlier, in August this year, he had spoken about Modi donning "outlandish" Naga and other headgear on his trips but refusing to sport a Muslim skull cap. Tharoor also kicked up a row with remarks that no "good" Hindu would favour a Ram temple in Ayodhya by demolishing somebody else's place of worship.

(Inputs from PTI, IANS)