BJP demands 'Shiv Bhakt' Rahul Gandhi's apology after Shashi Tharoor's 'scorpion' remark on PM Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday hit out at Rahul Gandhi over Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's remarks on Shiv Linga and demanded an apology from the “Shiv Bhakt” Congress president.

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 apology to what Tharoor has done.” 

The BJP’s reactions came a day after Tharoor claimed an unnamed RSS source had told a journalist that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was like a scorpion sitting on a Shiva linga who can't be removed by hand or hit with chappal. 

“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 Congress MP said while speaking at the Bengaluru Literature Festival on his recently launched book “The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India” on Saturday.

#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

Hitting back, Prasad said: “While Rahul Gandhi who 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 chappal attack through named sources.” 

Many on Twitter also criticised the statement of the former union minister.

Author and screenwriter Advaita Kala tweeted, "In the past two days PM Modi has been called on different public platforms - a namak haram, a dengue mosquito who needs to be exterminated with pesticide and a scorpion - by those who complain about a drop in public and political discourse."

In the past two days PM Modi has been called on different public platforms - a namak haram, a dengue mosquito who needs to be exterminated with pesticide and a scorpion - by those who complain about a drop in public and political discourse.

— Advaita Kala / अद्वैता काला (@AdvaitaKala) October 28, 2018

BJP minister Babul Supriyo tweeted:

Extremely disappointed by what @ShashiTharoor said abt Hon’ble PM•Makes me wonder once again if educated people leave their so-called education behind when in Politics•Use of Foul Language is a sure indication that @INCIndia is frustratedunder the bizarre leadership of RaBaBaBa

— Babul Supriyo (@SuPriyoBabul) October 28, 2018

On Friday, Tharoor officially launched the book at Delhi’s Nehru Memorial Museum & Library. Inaugurated by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the panel, moderated by senior journalist Bhupendra Chaubey, comprised Arun Shourie, former bureaucrat Pavan K Varma, former AAP spokesman Ashutosh, and Congress party leader P Chidambaram.