Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conversation with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, later backtracked from his statements to claim that he was quoted out of context.
Read: Exclusive! Top Congress leader says Modi has begun a new era
Rediff.com stands by its report.
Senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi stirred a controversy on Wednesday by appearing to be gushing in his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remarks which he later claimed were quoted "out of context".
Dwivedi, party general secretary, had told Rediff.com that Modi has started a "new era."
"Modi has been successful in convincing people that from a social point of view, he is closer to Indian citizens. His is a victory of Indianness," Dwivedi had said, while sharing his view from the premise of Indian voters as they see Modi.
However, Dwivedi later told reporters that what he had said was an "objective" analysis of the election results of 2014 was not the victory of Modi or the Bharatiya Janata Party but the defeat of Congress.
He said Modi and BJP succeeded in projecting that they were closer to Indian people and presented their victory as that of Indianness. "The voters felt like that".
He said what he had said was that the BJP's victory has ushered in a new time which has brought forth a very big challenge before the Congress and there is no scope for any misunderstanding over the issue.
As his remarks created speculation over his future course of action, Dwivedi made it clear that "people like him do not change their thought and loyalties. If such a time comes, I will keep away from partisan politics. It is just unthinkable that I will do something else."
