New Delhi, October 28: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday attacked Congress president Rahul Gandhi over Shashi Tharoor's remarks on Shiv Linga. Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded an apology from 'Shiv Bhakt' Rahul Gandhi because, according to him, Tharoor abused the sanctity of 'Shiv Linga' and Lord Mahadev.

"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," 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," he added. Floccinaucinihilipilification Is the New F-Word From Shashi Tharoor’s Dictionary! Know the Meaning & How to Pronounce It.

Sharp reactions from the BJP came a day after Tharoor claimed an unnamed RSS source had told a journalist that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is like a scorpion sitting on a Shivling who can't be removed by hand or hit with chappal. The Congress MP was speaking at Bengaluru Literature Festival on his recently launched book The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.

“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’,” Tharoor said on Saturday. The former Minister of State for External Affairs has been on target of the BJP.

Recently, Tharoor had found himself in a tricky situation after his remarks on Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya trigerred backlash. Speaking at 'The Hindu Lit For Life Dialogue 2018', Tharoor had said no good Hindu wants a temple by razing a mosque. The author of 'Why I Am A Hindu' also said that Hinduism is all about acceptance.

"While a vast majority of Hindus believes that Ayodhya was the birthplace of Lord Ram. No good Hindu would want to see a Ram temple built by demolishing somebody else's place of worship," the Thiruvananthapuram MP had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 28, 2018 04:14 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).