Bishnupur BJP MP Saumitra Khan on Thursday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a reincarnation of Swami Vivekananda, triggering severe criticism from political opponents who asserted that the saffron camp’s gross disregard for Bengal icons was underscored yet again by the parliamentarian.

The statement caused a grave loss of face yet again for the Bengal BJP and the party officially declared that it didn’t stand by Khan’s remarks.

On the sidelines of a programme where tributes were paid to a statue of Vivekananda in Bishnupur on the occasion of the philosopher-monk’s 161st birth anniversary, Khan said: “Swamiji is godlike for us. He is an icon for the youth.... Modiji dedicated himself to the nation even after losing his mother.”

He then went on: “Swamiji nabaroop’e Narendra Modi hoye janmogrohon korechhen, aamar mone hoye. (It makes me feel that Narendra Modi is a reincarnation of Swamiji).”

Appropriating Vivekananda has been a longstanding mission of the saffron ecosystem.

Reacting to Khan’s remarks, Swami Suvirananda, the general secretary of Belur Math, said: “Shri Ramkrishna had himself said Swamiji was one of the seven rishis of the Saptarshi Mandal. He had declared that Swamiji was the reincarnation of Shiva. According to Thakur himself, there would be no one like Swamiji ever again. Therefore, no one can be compared with Swamiji. Whatever has been said I believe is the outcome of the speaker’s emotion and imagination. I also believe the person about whom this has been said will not approve of it.”

Khan is not the first BJP leader to draw parallels between Modi and Vivekananda. Earlier, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had credited Modi for taking India to the front-seat of the world stage in the 21st century, adding that the soul of Narendra Nath Dutta — the humanist monk’s birth name — had entered the body of the current Prime Minister.

Junior Union minister of home affairs Nityanand Raihad said one Narendra (Modi)was now fulfilling the dream of the other Narendra (Dutta).

Khan’s attempt to equate Modi with Swamiji not only triggered political potshots but also drew peels of laughter in social media. A BJP leader admitted that the MP ended up damaging the party’s image as his comment once again exposed the saffron camp’s disconnect with Bengal. Khan is the latest addition to a long list of BJP leaders —it includes the likes of Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda — who allegedly misrepresented Bengal icons. For instance, Shah had once garlanded a generic statue of a tribal hunter, mistaking it for that of tribal demigod Birsa Munda. The Twitter handle of the BJP’s Bengal unit had attributed to Naddaa quote that Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had been born at Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan. He was actually born in Jorasanko of north Calcutta.

Every time such mistakes are made, the Trinamul Congress seizes the opportunity to corner the saffron camp and calls it as a bohiragawto (outsider).

On Thursday, senior Trinamul leader Firhad Hakim said Khan ought to see a physician. Trinamul state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar, a BJP turncoat, said: “It has become a trend for BJP leaders to insult the icons of Bengal. This is such an abysmally shameful level of flattery.”

CPM leader Samik Lahiri said it could be an instance of Khan trying to make it to the good books of Modi.

State BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar distanced himself and the party from Khan’scomment. “This is not the party’s stand,” he said.

“Modiji is a devotee of Swamiji. Only Saumitra Khan can answer for what he has said,” added Majumdar.

However, Khan stood his ground and said if Trinamul leaders could draw parallels between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and some other icons of the Bengal Renaissance, there was no harm in him comparing Modi to Vivekananda.