Days after the “scorpion” jibe on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor fired a fresh salvo on Saturday, calling the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman “a hero on a white stallion with an unpraised sword in his hand”.


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Referring to Prime Minister Modi as a one-man government, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, “(Modi is) a hero on a white stallion with an upraised sword in his hand saying I know all the answers”.


At an event organised by an industry body in Kolkata, Tharoor further said, “Modi is a one-man government and everybody dancing to what he says." According to the Congress leader, “India now has the most centralised PMO in history”.


“Every decision is taken by the PMO (prime minister's office). Every file has to be sent to the PMO for approval,” said Tharoor.


The latest dig at the Prime Minister by the Congress leader came even as Delhi BJP leader Rajeev Babbar filed a criminal defamation case against Tharoor. Babbar said that Tharoor’s “scorpion” remark had hurt his religious sentiments.


“I am a devotee of Lord Shiva... However, the accused (Tharoor) completely disregarded the sentiments of crores of Shiva's devotees, made the statement which hurt the sentiments of all the Lord Shiva devotees, both in India and outside the country,” the BJP leader said in his complaint.


Tharoor had, almost a week back, triggered a major controversy as he quoted an anonymous Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) source as saying, “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.”


His remark had triggered a war of words between the Congress and the BJP.


Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had taken to microblogging site Twitter, referring to Tharoor as a murder case accused. He had also said that Tharoor had disrespected lord Shiva and Congress president Rahul Gandhi must apologise for his party MP’s remark.


“Shashi Tharoor who is accused in a murder case has attempted to disrespect Lord Shiva. I seek a reply from Rahul Gandhi who claims himself to be a Bhakt of Lord Shiva on this horrific denunciation of Hindu gods by a Congress MP. Rahul Gandhi must apologize to all Hindus,” the Union minister had said.


Reacting to it, Tharoor had sent a legal notice to Prasad, seeking an apology from him.


(With PTI Inputs)