Congress takes dim view of party MP praising Modi

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday took dim view of party MP Vijay Darda's remarks at a function in Ahmedabad terming Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a "lion" and will seek a report from the party's state in-charge.

Party sources said that Gujarat in-charge Mohan Prakash will be asked for a report.

"First of all we will seek a report from the state in-charge and determine the truth. We will find out what needs to be done and then decide," a senior party leader said here.

Darda, a Congress MP from Maharashtra, praised Modi's style of working and referred to him as a "lion" at an award ceremony in Ahmedabad. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was also present.

Modi seized the opportunity offered by Darda's remarks and took a dig at the Congress, saying the MP may have to pay price for calling him a lion and may be issued a show-cause notice by his party.

Darda, who is also involved in journalism, later clarified that he was not making any political comments.

"My culture says that I should respect the house to which I go," Darda said and denied calling Modi "a national saint."

"If you have heard my speech, I had said that Modi had been named Narendra by his parents with the hope that he would follow the path of Vivekanada," Darda said.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to hail Darda for his remarks. Party leader Balbir Punj said he was not at all surprised by Darda's view.

"Different political leaders have been making similar remarks about Modi in their private conversations. Darda-ji also turned out to be a lion by stating these publicly,"he said.

Darda is the second media-cum-political figure who has had to issue clarifications after meeting Modi in the past few days.

Samajwadi Party distanced itself from former MP Shahid Siddiqui after an interview with Modi for his Urdu daily "Nai Duniya".

In the interview published earlier this week, Modi told Siddiqui that he would not apologise for the 2002 riots in Gujarat and he would rather prefer to be hanged if found guilty for the violence.

The statement was seen as an effort by Modi for an image makeover by reaching out to the Muslim voters.