Within weeks after Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was criticised by his own party for overtly praising the Prime Minister, it is now former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh who has dared to ruffle a few feathers by calling Narendra Modi ‘India’s Richard Nixon’.
Ramesh said that Modi has the ability to emerge as India’s Richard Nixon while handling China and Pakistan as he enjoys the flexibility which his Congress predecessor Manmohan Singh lacked.
“The way Nixon had opened China to America, Modi has the potential to become the former when it comes to China and Pakistan,” said Ramesh.
However, Ramesh further said that while Congress would have been criticised for inviting Nawaz Sharif for bilateral ties, Modi is being praised for the same.
Earlier, Congress’ Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, in an article, had said that the development-centric approach of PM Narendra Modi suggested that he had evolved into “Modi 2.0”.
He had also said that the manner in which NDA government had steered clear of hardline rhetoric was a welcome step.
However, his praise for Modi didn’t go down well with the other Congress leaders. The party distanced itself from Tharoor’s praise of Modi.
Moreover, Congress spokesperson Mani Shankar Aiyar went on to say that Tharoor’s statements and clarifications have reduced the strength of the party in the Lok Sabha from 44 to 43.
