Zeenews Bureau
Ahmedabad: In an embarrassing situation for the Congress, party MP from Maharashtra Vijay Darda on Sunday praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi by calling him a “tiger” and a “national saint”.
"Modi's commitment and dedication towards work bears resemblance to that of a tiger," Darda, who shared dais with the Gujarat Chief Minister at an award ceremony here, said.
He was speaking at a sermon celebrated by Jain ascetic Tarun Sagar here.
Darda, who is also the editor-in-chief of a media house, was given the 'Tarun Kranti Award' at the event for his services rendered to the society through the media.
Taking a thread from Darda's statement, Modi was quick to take a dig at Congress saying he may have to pay a price for his comments.
"It won't be surprising to read tomorrow's breaking news that Darda has been served a show-cause notice from the party high command for praising Modi," he said.
Darda later downplayed his remarks saying that he did not mean anything political through his comments on Modi. "I was just expressing my heart-felt feelings at a religious function," he said.
"I am from the Jain community, what I said was out of respect, no need to make an issue out of this", Darda said.
“In our culture, we always speak good about the host and this is a religious function, so none of my comments should be misconstrued as political remarks”, he added.
First Published: Sunday, July 29, 2012, 17:05