New Delhi: Congress has in the ‘strongest words’ condemned its senior leader Janardhan Dwivedi for reportedly praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphatic victory in 2013 Lok Sabha elections.

Kicking a storm, Dwivedi on Wednesday said he was of the view that the BJP and Narendra Modi succeeded in projecting that they were closer to the Indian people and presented their victory as that of Indianness. “The voters felt like that,” he said.

Dwivedi said that in his “objective” analysis, the Lok Sabha election results of 2014 were not a victory of Mr Modi or the BJP but a defeat of the Congress.

According to the Congress leader, the BJP’s victory has ushered in a new time that has put a very big challenge before the Congress, and that there is no scope for any misunderstanding over the issue. He 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.”

Clarifying his stand, Dwivedi on Thursday said that he has been misquoted.

“Who said Modi ji is the symbol of Indianness? I never said that, these are not my words,” he said.

Dwivedi is a close to the Gandhi family and has also served as the party’s chief spokesperson.