New Delhi: Both Houses of Parliament on Thursday witnessed a pandemonium after Congress demanded an apology from Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi for caustically referring to his predecessor Manmohan Singh as someone adept at “bathing with a raincoat on.”

Modi was taking a dig at Singh’s alleged ability to avoid the taint of scams during his ten-year-old regime.

Congress said that Modi’s comment on Singh has lowered the level of politics. Leading the charge, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi demanded that PM should apologise for his “ugly remark.”

“When a Prime Minister reduces himself to ridiculing his predecessor who is years his senior, he hurts the dignity of the parliament and the nation. He demeans his position and himself more than anyone else. This is saddening and shameful,” Gandhi tweeted.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament), Modi had said on Wednesday that only Singh knew the art of bathing while wearing a raincoat.

“Dr Manhmohan Singh has played a significant role in the economic system of India. But during the most corrupt regime in the nation, there was not a single corruption charge against him. This art of taking bath wearing a raincoat must be learnt from Manmohan Singh,” Modi had said.

Earlier, Singh had slammed recent demonetisation move of the government as “organised loot and legalised plunder.”

On Thursday, Congress condemned Modi and dubbed him as “arrogant.”

“This is an insult of the House. We have never seen such arrogance. The Prime Minister should think that there is a stature to the post he holds and he does not know what words should be used. We will not tolerate this. We condemn the Prime Minister’s remarks. He should apologise to the House for this,” senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal told Gulf News.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the remarks were in “extremely poor taste and unbecoming of a Prime Minister”.

“Within minutes of his speech, Modi attacked the former Prime Minister in the most unacceptable manner. He said Manmohan Singh occupied various positions and one must learn from him how to take a shower wearing a raincoat. It was in extremely poor taste. We are very very disappointed and angry with what the Prime Minister said,” Chidambaram said.

Opposition parties including Communist Party of India (Marxist), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Trinamool Congress also joined Congress in protesting against the PM’s comments.

In view of the pandemonium, both Houses of the Parliament were adjourned.

Meanwhile, Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu demanded an apology from Congress for disrespecting the PM and Parliament.

“It is the Congress which should tender an unconditional apology for not respecting the PM and Parliament and creating a ruckus in both the Houses,” Naidu.

He said Congress had earlier described the PM as Hitler and Mussolini, yet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not react much.

“Prime Minister Modi has not targeted Dr Manmohan Singh but his government and if there have been scams and there are blemishes, shouldn’t that be questioned? It is natural to do that,” BJP leader Shaina NC said.