New Delhi:
Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh was today ticked off by Congress which distanced itself from his remarks made yesterday that Narendra Modi poses a challenge for the Congress.
"Modi could be a challenge for the BJP and the NDA but not for the Congress....we do not consider him a challenge. It is the considered view of the Congress party", party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters.
"What Jairam has said may be his personal view. Right now, he has become a challenge for the BJP and the NDA itself", Mr Ahmed snapped back.
Asked whether his comments meant that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) is distancing itself from the Union Minister who has found himself in controversies earlier too, Mr Ahmed said, "there is no question of pulling him up, defending or supporting him..."
Mr Ramesh's had said in an interview to PTI that Mr Modi posed a managerial as well as an ideological challenge on Congress.
He had dubbed Mr Modi as India's "first authentic fascist" and had conceded that the BJP leader posed a "challenge" for the Congress party in the coming elections.
Mr Ramesh was perhaps the first Congress leader to speak openly about Mr Modi as a "challenge". The Minister, however, had dismissed suggestions that the Congress is afraid of him.