After calling Narendra Modi 'bigger brand' than Mahatma Gandhi, Haryana Minister Anil Vij withdraws comment​

Haryana minister Anil Vij said Mahatma Gandhi's photo would vanish from the currency notes.

New Delhi: In the wake of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) diary-calendar row, Haryana Minister Anil Vij on Saturday stoked a huge controversy by saying Narendra Modi is a bigger brand than Mahatma Gandhi.

However, Vij later said the statement is his personal opinion and he takes it back as he does not want to hurt anyone's sentiments.

"The comment I made on Mahatma Gandhi is my personal opinion, to avoid hurting anyone's sentiments I take it back," Vij tweeted.

Commenting on the issue of PM Modi's photo in the calendar and the diary of KVIC, Vij, who is a minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana earlier said, 'khadi' didn't prosper ever since Mahatma Gandhi's name was associated with it.

“Khadi is not patent in the name of Gandhi, and the sale of khadi items increased by 14 percent ever since Modi got associated with it,” Vij said.

“It's good that PM Modi's photo was placed in on the 2017 calendar and diaries published by the KVIC as Modi is a bigger brand than Gandhi,” Vij added.

The Haryana Minister went on to say that devaluation of currency notes started the day Gandhi's photo was printed on them.

When asked why did the Modi dispensation printed Gandhi's picture on the new currency notes, the Haryana minister replied saying, Mahatma Gandhi's photo would vanish from the notes.

"The day Gandhi came on the rupee, its devaluation started. Gradually, he will be removed from the notes also," Vij said.

The photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the calendar and the diary of KVIC on Friday kicked up a row, with opposition parties slamming the development even as the government and BJP dismissed the controversy as "unnecessary".

The Prime Minister 's Office (PMO), while dismissing the controversy as "unnecessary", said "there is no rule in KVIC that its diary and calendar should have only Gandhiji's photo."

KVIC chairman VK Saxena also defended the move, saying there is "no rule or tradition" that only Mahatma Gandhi's picture can be published on these items.

Maintaining that Gandhiji's stature is such that he can never be replaced by anyone, Saxena said, "This whole controversy is unnecessary and out of the context."

KVIC is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament. Saxena was appointed as Chairman of KVIC in October 2015 by the Centre.