"Imported mushroom" predictably became a trending meme after Mr Thakor's comments at a rally on the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat election.
"Somebody told me that Modiji has imported mushrooms from Taiwan...Each mushroom costs Rs 80,000 and PM Modi has had five every day...since he was Chief Minister," remarked Mr Thakor, 40, who is contesting from Radhanpur in Patan district.
At this point, his meandering took a bizarre turn. "I said, he was dark like me, no wonder he is fair now. I was wondering how he has become gora chitta like tomatoes. A person who has mushrooms worth Rs 1 crore 20 lakh a month can't have poor man's food...like roti-dal," he said.
"If the PM consumes food worth Rs four lakh a day, think how much party workers spend."
Twitter exploded soon with fairness and "imported mushroom" jokes and people posted "before and after" memes.
Before and After having Imported Mushroom #ImportedMushroom#MushroomEffectpic.twitter.com/IK8k8yJkYH
— yatin sangoi (@Y4T1N) December 12, 2017
Now social activists will campaign like:
Dark is beautiful. Say No to #ImportedMushroom . pic.twitter.com/8RUg0WbhEE— Shivani Nani (@vanisaxenaa) December 12, 2017
It is not clear what variety of mushroom Mr Thakor was discussing, but a search reveals that one of the world's most expensive are the rare European white truffle, which cost 2,200 euros or around Rs 1.6 lakh.
Mr Thakor is seen as part of a trio that includes Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani - young leaders who have challenged the ruling BJP and have drawn sizeable crowds at their public rallies.
The BJP has dismissed his potential impact saying he and his father are former Congressmen and that the young leader had earlier contested elections as a Congress candidate and lost.
