Ahmedabad, 17 January 2014

Former minister and Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar today again delivered a remark targeting BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in bad taste.

Aiyar today morning said, “give my word, Modi will never be Prime Minister in the 21st century. If he wants to sell tea here (All India Congress Committee meeting), we can arrange for it.”

Aiyar has in the past described Narendra Modi as a snake, scorpion, dirty man (click here), bloody man, trader of falsehoods,(click here), illiterate and joker.

Author’s note:

His frequent remarks against Narendra Modi shows his fear. Fear of what? Read on. Former marxist Mani Shankar Aiyar as a diplomat was picked up by his school and college junior Rajiv Gandhi to PM office(1985). In 1989 on Rajiv Gandhi’s call, he resigned from service and joined politics. He was elected as Congress MP in 1991,1999 and 2004 but lost in 1996,1998. After his defeat in Lok Sabha elections in 2009, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi loyalist Aiyar was rehabilitated to Rajya Sabha as a nominated member and not as elected member! With Modi emerging as a successful challenger to his post-retirement patron family, Aiyar’s frustration against Modi is understandable.

Some of the reaction on social media:

Kiran Bedi: Small minded people make mean statements.

Vinobha.uppi: These old chamcha congis only made the family dumb and looted India. Who is Manishankar Aiyar? What’s your achivements?

Suryah SG Gupta: Marx Aiyar who will be slippered in his own constituency Mayiladuthurai if he goes; has the audacity to talk about most popular leader of India.

Krupakar Manukonda: That statement from Mani Shankar Aiyar is so gross. These are thing which will make even critics like me vote for Modi.

Akshay Khanna: Pretty sure Mani Shankar Aiyar finished one full bottle of Old Monk before coming to aicc meet today.

Bimal Pr. Mohapatra: Common men of India should rise and give a fitting sla to 10 Janpath sycophant Mani S. Aiyar for his abuse.

Ratnakar Sadasyula: Not surprised about Mani Shankar Aiyar’s snobbish remark on Modi being a chaiwallah, he reeks of class bias in all his talks.

Saswati Sarkar: Mani Shankar Aiyar delivers a full toss!

Kumari Rashmi: Mani Shankar Aiyar ……. God bless him for giving us so much insight on the kind of people Congress consists of.

Omar Abdullah’s take:

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today criticized senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for “mocking” at the “humble” background of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying such remarks would not help the UPA’s campaign.

“Modi has a lot of negatives but his humble origins are a positive some of us can’t claim. We aren’t helping our campaign by mocking him,” Omar wrote on micro-blogging website Twitter in an apparent reference to the Congress leader’s remarks.