Pathanamthitta, Nov 16 (Zee News): Defending the 'chai-wala' remark on PM Modi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor Thursday said that he was referring to the BJP leader's humble beginnings.

“PM Modi has always talked of his humble background, and I did the same,” said Tharoor.

“BJP is today in a condition that even if you drive safely on the road, they will come and purposely collide with you to make it look like an accident,” he further said.

Speaking on BJP's political strategy, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, "BJP has got a nationwide strategy of polarisation. They are going to fight the next elections on communal lines. On Sabarimala, they could have easily found a solution through the national parliament or an ordinance or whatever but they want trouble on street. The Congress is trying to walk a middle course, we are with the believers but we want to follow legal course.”

Tharoor triggered a controversy after claiming that it is because of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru that a ‘chai wala’ is the PM today.

Speaking at an event in the national capital, he said that former prime minister Nehru created the institutional structures which enabled any Indian to aspire to reach the highest office.

“If today we have a 'chaiwala' as Prime Minister, it's because Nehru ji made it possible to create the institutional structures through which any Indian can aspire to rise to the highest office in the land,” said Tharoor at the relaunch of his book, ‘Nehru: The invention of India’.