Bangalore: BJP President Nitin Gadkari on Sunday denied making a direct comparison between Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Mahatma Gandhi.
"I never compared Modi to Mahatma Gandhi," Gadkari told reporters here, asserting that there were video clippings of his speech to prove it.
"I said that Modi inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Deedayal Upadhyaya, was carrying out all programmes to help the poor and was following in their footsteps," he said, a day after his controversial remark.
On his first visit to Gujarat as BJP chief, Gadkari had yesterday drew parallels between Mahatma Gandhi and Modi, saying both believed that politics was an instrument to alleviate poverty.
Gadkari had made the remarks, which was criticised by the Congress, during the visit that coincided with the 62nd death anniversary of the Mahatma.
He asked the media to present "news as news and not to mix views" and to be fair and to report "only what is said."
PTI
First Published: Sunday, January 31, 2010, 16:04