PM draws flak for comparing Badal to Mandela

Deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's description of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as the “Nelson Mandela of India”.

"Who says our prime minister does not have a sense of humour?” said the former chief minister of Punjab, adding: “Either it is a tongue-in-cheek comment by the prime minister and he really does not mean what he said, or he actually does not know what he is saying.”

Amarinder said if Modi really meant what he said, it was an insult to the great stature of Mandela. He also pointed out that Mandela spent 27 years in jail in isolation and solitary confinement, fighting against apartheid, while Badal may not have spent a total of even 27 months in jail and most of that time was in luxury and the government's hospitality.

Amarinder said: “If he seriously believes Badal is the Nelson Mandela of India, then I am sure he might be thinking that like Mandela he (Badal) deserves a Bharat Ratna and Nobel Peace Prize, and should really lobby for him.”