Taking a direct swipe at the Prime Minister of India, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday likened PM Modi to a dictator, and also made comparisons with Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Chidambaram, thrilled by the central government’s decision to repeal the three new contentious farm laws, said that the success of the farmer protests has given a hint of how the Bharatiya Janata Party will fare in the upcoming state elections next year.

Addressing the media in Goa’s Panaji, the former Union minister said that the farm laws were “hastily withdrawn” by the Prime Minister today morning.

“Modi is Modi. He behaves like a dictator in the garb of a democrat. Hitler behaved like a dictator in the garb of a dictator. The only difference is Modi is a dictator in the garb of a democrat,” Chidambaram said in Panaji on Friday.

The Congress leader said the way fuel prices were reduced after the BJP faced electoral setbacks recently, the withdrawal of farm laws was also due to the fear of losses in upcoming elections.

“Remember three weeks ago, when the byelection results came and the BJP suffered a massive defeat in HP and lost badly in several other seats, including Karnataka and Rajasthan, the official results came in the morning of the day and by 3 p.m. they announced the reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel. That kind of a stubborn government has today announced the withdrawal of farm laws means that they are losing the next round of elections. This is a lesson for the people. This government does not fear democracy, this government does not fear Parliament. It only fears a loss in elections. If you want this government to mend its ways, the best thing the people of India can do is to defeat it at every election,” Chidambaram told media persons.