Even as he condemned the State Department decision to deny a visa to Narendra Modi [Images], Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi [Images], wondered how the Gujarat chief minister finds similarities between his situation and that of Gandhi's when he was thrown out of a train in South Africa.

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"It seems it is something pulled out of his (Modi's) hat. After all, the Mahatma was never denied a visa to any country," he said on Tuesday.

Arun Gandhi is the founder and chairman of the MK Gandhi Institute for Non-violence.

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In the context of the visa denial, Modi likened his situation to that of Gandhi, who was a victim of racial discrimination in South Africa.

But Arun Gandhi said Modi's case was not an example of discrimination.

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"Modi is a democratically elected official and should have been given the freedom to travel and pursue his engagement," Gandhi told rediff.com.

"But for him to say that there is a similarity with Bapuji's life is far fetched,"  he added.

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