FIRSTPAR/1 = BOMBAY -- A puppy dog on the outskirts of India's financial capital Bombay had his day at the weekend: He was placed in an elaborately decorated swing and officially named "George Bush".

Offended by the U.S. president's name for his pet cat, "India", activists of the Hindu Nationalist Bajrang Dal group have decided to get their own back.

"Bush named his cat India so we are naming dogs George Bush," Shankar Gaikar, regional coordinator of the Bajrang Dal, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The name of America's first cat caused a furor in Bombay last week when a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which has links with the Bajrang Dal, stumbled upon it on the Internet.

The party demonstrated outside the U.S. Consulate to demand an apology. But Elizabeth Corwin, director of public affairs at the U.S. Consulate, said Bush's cat name was actually called "India Ink" because of its dark blueish-black color.

"How can we tolerate this insult to India? Bush had no right to do this," said Gaikar, adding that Bajrang Dal workers had distributed sugar to hundreds of passers-by, a traditional practice during naming ceremonies in India.