After defamation complaint, Tharoor labels Modi 'hero on white stallion with an upraised sword in his hand'

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Saturday mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a "hero on a white stallion with an upraised sword in his hand".

Tharoor had waded into a controversy at the Bangalore Literature Festival Sunday last by claiming that an unnamed RSS leader had compared Modi to "a scorpion sitting on a Shivling" and "you cannot remove him with your hand and you cannot hit it with a chappal either".

A criminal defamation complaint had been filed against him in a Delhi court earlier in the day for his "scorpion" remark.

Tharoor again took a swipe at the prime minister, calling him "a hero on a white stallion with an upraised sword in his hand saying I know all the answers".

"Modi is a one-man government and everybody dancing to what he says," he said at an event organised by an industry body, adding 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," he claimed.