- by Parinda Bureau, December 30, 2005, 11:45 IST

Politicians are known for putting their foot in their mouth but this takes the cake!

To utter embarrassment of Atal Behari Vajpayee and L K Advani, former Union Minister C P Thakur shocked the delegates and media at BJP's silver jubilee convention by comparing the contribution of the two senior leaders to the Mongol invader Chengez Khan's army from a "band of three men".

"I tried but could not find a parallel in any democratic set-up," Thakur said, participating in a discussion on political resolution.

"It is said that Changez Khan's reign began when three men first met and the meeting was described as the smallest army in the world," Thakur said. It was clear that he wasn’t talking with his tongue in his cheek and really meant to compare the two with Chenghez Khan though the emphasis was on the term army. All the pleas by Advani to put a stop to this awkward eulogy were in vain, Thakur continued despite shortage of time.