Congress MP Mr Shashi Tharoor is no stranger to controversy. In fact, the charismatic Congress leader has courted more trouble than many of his contemporaries. A regular in the social media, his tweets and posts pluck up more interest and response in the media that his party may want him to.

No doubt, Mr Shashi Tharoor has an enviable fan following in the world of the internet; his love for long and rather hard-to-pronounce English words is well known. Many netizens look forward to his unique style of expression. His ardent love for extravagant elocution makes him the sought-after literary personality in the various Literature Festivals across the country and abroad.

Shashi Tharoor's latest controversy arises from an analogy which was cited by an RSS leader to a journalist in 2012, pertaining to PM Narendra Modi. The RSS laments that Modi has become "a scorpion sitting on a Shivaling. You cannot remove him with your hand and you cannot hit with a chappal either". The metaphor points to a possible unease between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Narendra Modi. This is seen as an attempt to create a rift between the BJP and RSS. Tharoor was speaking at Bengaluru Literary Festival, about his book, 'A Paradoxical Prime Minister' is a biography on PM Narendra Modi. The book gives a scathing count of disillusionment and disenchantment of the people of India for Modi. Modi government has failed consistently to deliver on the promises. The last four and a half years have been spent on concentrating the power in the PMO. He described PM Modi as an individual whose behaviour frustrated RSS members too.

In a seething speech, the Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has told that BJP has taken offence to Mr Tharoor's comments as it shows disrespect to Lord Shiva but also to country's Prime Minister. He demanded an apology from the Congress Party.

Before the demand for apology from the Congress Leaders, perhaps the most relevant query should be who was the RSS leader who cited this infamous metaphor.

Mr Tharoor has criticized the media for construing the facts falsely and making it appear that the remark was mouthed by Tharoor. He explained that the 'scorpion comment' was in the public domain for six years, but came into BJP's attention so late.

Much to the reprieve for Mr Tharoor, the Executive Editor of the magazine Vinod Jose came in support of Mr Shashi Tharoor.   

This is indeed the best example of  'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.