Shashi Tharoor quotes 'source': 'For RSS, PM Modi like scorpion sitting on Shivling, can't be removed with hand or hit with chappal'

Shashi Tharoor has quoted an RSS "source" to compare Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a scorpion sitting on a Shivling, which cannot be removed with hands or hit with 'chappal' (slippers) either.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. PTI Photo

BENGALURU: In a statement that could trigger a major controversy, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor quoted an RSS "source" to compare Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a scorpion sitting on a Shivling, which cannot be removed with hands or hit with 'chappal' (slippers). Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Tharoor said the "personality cult" of Modi did not sit well with many in the RSS establishment. “There’s an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed 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," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, adding that the metaphor highlights RSS' frustration with its inability to curb Narendra Modi. Drawing the controversial analogy, Tharoor said: "If you remove a scorpion with your hand, you'll get stung very badly. But if you hit a Shivling with a chappal then you have undermined all the sacred tenets of the faith that you hold in the scorpion that's sitting there." The Congress leader was addressing an audience at Bengaluru Literature Festival on his recently launched book The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.

#WATCH Shashi Tharoor in Bengaluru, says, "There's an extraordinarily striking metaphor expressed by an unnamed RSS source to a journalist, that, "Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivling, you can't remove him with your hand & you cannot hit it with a chappal either."(27.10) pic.twitter.com/E6At7WrCG5

— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2018

Tharoor's analogy has earned BJP's ire with the saffron party slamming him for his "horrific denunciation" of Lord Shiva and demanding an apology from Congress President Rahul Gandhi. "While Rahul Gandhi claims himself to be a Shiv Bhakt, one of his small leaders has almost abused the sanctity of Shiv Linga and Lord Mahadev by referring to A chappal attack through named sources," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "Rahul Gandhi, you claim yourself be to a Shiv Bhakt. Please reply to this very horrific denunciation of Lord Mahadev by giving an apology to what Tharoor has done," he said. Issuing a clarification, Tharoor said the remark he quoted has been in the public domain for six years. "This comment (not by me) has been in the public domain for six years. RS Prasad making an issue of a 6-year old quote shows how little new the BJP has to offer the nation," he tweeted. "As for media subserving the BJP’s desire for 'controversy', when will this 'profession' develop any self-respect?" he said.