Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh seen at India Today Conclave - South 2017 with TV Today Network Managing Editor Rahul Kanwal. (Image: India Today Group)

In what could be considered as a controversial comment, former union minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said north India was more tolerant than south India.

Speaking at India Today Conclave-South, Ramesh said, "If I have to choose a place to live, I will choose in north India. Traveling in Bihar, UP and Jharkhand, I find that people are more tolerant, more cosmopolitan there. They are more acceptable than those in the south."

His comments evoked immediate rebuttal from former CBI director R Raghvan, who was in the audience. "I have been living in south India for past 15 years after my retirement. The people in Chennai are equally accepting. There are no hostilities towards outsiders. I invite Jairam Ramesh to settle down in Chennai."

Responding to Raghvan's comment, Jairam Ramesh offered to elaborate. He said, "I find the elites of south India are rooted elsewhere - in USA, Germany, Scotland and all such places. But the elites of north India are rooted in their land."

"The elites of south India have seceded from the rest of India. They have become global citizens but they need to be the citizens of India first," Ramesh said at the India Today Conclave.

The Congress MP was in discussion with India Today Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai on 'South and the Rest: the New Powerhouse' at the Conclave.

WHAT ELSE DID RAMESH SAY Non-Congressism in south India led to progressive politics in these states, particularly in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu mode of governance is more efficient than the Gujarat model. Tamil Nadu model has delivered both social development and strong economic growth. Gujarat model delivered only economic growth while Kerala model brought only social development. South India became a powerhouse because of the public investment made in these states during the decades of 1950 and 1960. On the corruption front, south Indian politics reflect what happens in the rest of India. The system of administration is better in south India than in north India. Parties come and go in the government, but system has delivered goods for the people of south Indian states. City of Madras had a birth control league in 1920. Don't have a romantic view of south India, which developed because of the federal structure of the country. Kerala did well on social indicators because it got its rice from Punjab.

WATCH | Actor Shriya Saran defends Jairam Ramesh's 'north India is more tolerant' comment