Sushma better choice for PM than Modi: Digvijay

Making a strong attack against Narendra Modi, whom he termed a "megalomaniac psychopath liar", Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday stoked a fresh controversy saying why can the Bharatiya Janata Party not field a "better leader" like Sushma Swaraj as its prime ministerial candidate.

Swaraj, however, was quick to dismiss Singh's comments with the retort, "Even I think Digvijay Singhji is a better candidate than Rahul Gandhi" on Twitter.

The BJP leader's response was to a tweet by Singh in which he, while slamming Modi over his remarks that Jawaharlal Nehru did not attend the funeral of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, said, "And the BJP wants Indian voters to vote for this Megalomaniac Psychopath Lier (sic)! Couldn't the BJP find a better leader? What's wrong with Sushma?"

This is not the first time that Singh has called for Swaraj to be named BJP's prime ministerial candidate. Last year as well, Singh had said it was Swaraj's "right" to be seen as a contender for the prime minister's chair.

"In the British Parliament, the leader of opposition is considered the shadow prime minister. If we go by that system, Sushma should be the shadow PM here also. But I was surprised when Sushma declared someone else as the contender for PM... It is your right Sushmaji," Singh had said.

Downplaying the Congress leader's comments, Swaraj had said that Singh had an old habit of creating disputes and was doing just that in the circumstances.

Contradicting Modi's alleged remarks about Nehru not having attended Patel's funeral, Singh cited the autobiography of former prime minister Morarji Desai saying it "confirms Nehru and Rajendra Prasad's participation at the funeral in Mumbai".

"Modi must issue a public apology! Feku at his best," he said in a tweet, which also had a link to the autobiography of Desai.

Singh was referring to a statement reportedly made by Modi in Udaipur that Nehru had not attended India's first home minister, Sardar Patel's, funeral.