Narendra Modi is no Vajpayee: Sachin Pilot

New Delhi, July 14: Calling Narendra Modi a "chest- thumping, self-proclaimed hero", Union Minister Sachin Pilot today said it is not possible for the Gujarat leader to be like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Congress leader also said that the life motto of Modi and many other BJP leaders is to "compromise and do whatever it takes to get to the position of Prime Minister", but they must understand that "you cannot change colours overnight".

"People who plan, conspire, desire and run after the post of Prime Minister, they will never make it. It comes to you with your work, honesty and acceptance," Pilot said.

The 36-year-old Lok Sabha MP from Ajmer in Rajasthan, who holds the charge of Corporate Affairs Ministry, said that Modi is positioning himself as an "avatar" of the former Prime Minister, but "Modi is no Vajpayee".

The comments come amidst a political furore over Modi's comments that he is a 'Hindu nationalist' and he did "absolutely the right thing" during 2002 riots in the state.

The Gujarat chief minister has has been made BJP's chief campaigner for next Lok Sabha elections and is widely being speculated as the party's prime ministerial candidate.

"Modi is a chest-thumping, self-proclaimed hero in his own making. He needs projection, and his party and PR agencies are pumping in money to project him as face of the BJP and their poll campaign," Pilot told PTI in an interview here.

Taking on L K Advani as well, the minister said that the BJP strongman is now being projected as a "secular" face in the party, but people see through these gimmicks and they still remember his role in Ratha Yatra and Ram Mandir issues.

"Becoming Prime Minister is not the end of the world for any of the Congress leaders, but it is so for Advani, Modi and ten other people in BJP," he said.

PTI