From 'chaiwala' to 'Rahulian': Mani Shankar Aiyar returns and Congress ducks for cover, again

NEW DELHI: By now, the pattern is familiar. Just when Congress is trying to project discipline and a message of unity ahead of an election, Mani Shankar Aiyar re-enters the scene, picks up the mic, and leaves the party embarrassed.Congress was once again forced into damage control on Monday after Aiyar launched a sharp attack on the party leadership, a day after praising the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala, led by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.Things escalated rapidly when Aiyar, speaking to ANI, dismissed the authority of the current Congress leadership and declared: "I am a Gandhian, I am a Nehruvian, I am a Rajivian, but I am not a Rahulian."Invoking BR Ambedkar's description of dissent as being "a part but apart", Aiyar positioned himself as an ideological insider with the right to rebel. The tone, however, soon turned confrontational.Targeting Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, Aiyar said: "I have absolutely no respect and complete contempt for Pawan Khera… He is not a spokesperson, he is a parrot."

He went further, adding: "If Pawan Khera is going to expel me, I will happily go outside and kick his backside after I have left."

Within hours, Congress moved to publicly sever any association with his remarks.

Congress responds: Not our man

Khera issued a statement on X distancing the party from Aiyar's comments: "Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar has had no connection whatsoever with the Congress for the past few years. He speaks and writes purely in his personal capacity."Communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh followed up by reaffirming the party's confidence in the United Democratic Front (UDF), saying: "Let there be no doubt.

The people of Kerala will bring the UDF back for more responsible and responsive governance."

What triggered the row

The controversy stemmed from remarks Aiyar made on Sunday at a public event in Kerala. Addressing chief minister Vijayan, he said: "I must fall at your feet, CM Vijayan, and request you to pick up the baton that the Congress has dropped."For a Congress trying to regain lost political space in Kerala, with Assembly elections just a couple of months away, the optics were damaging.

The party found itself defending its relevance while one of its most recognisable faces appeared to publicly endorse a rival.

A day later, Aiyar said his remark had been blown out of proportion, calling it just "half a line" in his speech."It was only half a line in that speech which has been blown out of proportion," he said.However, he maintained that the Vijayan-led LDF government was doing outstanding work."As a Congressman, I want the UDF to win. As a Gandhian, I am obliged to tell the truth, irrespective of what I wish.

I am not a voter in Kerala, but I think he is going to get another term," Aiyar told PTI.

A pattern, not a one-off

The Congress's discomfort with Aiyar is not new. His statements have time and again left the party red-faced.On April 4, 2014, at a public meeting in Delhi, Aiyar mocked then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, saying: "This chaiwala should come here and serve tea."The remark was immediately seized upon by the BJP. Modi embraced the label, transforming it into a narrative of aspiration versus elitism.

For a Congress already struggling under anti-incumbency, the comment became emblematic of what the BJP called its "entitled mindset".This was not an isolated incident.Three years later, on December 10, 2017, during the Gujarat Assembly election campaign, Aiyar referred to Modi as a "neech aadmi". Though he later clarified that the phrase referred to social conduct and not caste, the BJP framed it as an insult to Gujarati pride.

Modi turned it into a rallying cry.The Congress suspended Aiyar, but the political damage had already been done.

Rajiv Gandhi, history and embarrassment

Even after being sidelined, Aiyar continued to create discomfort for the party. In 2022, his remarks about Rajiv Gandhi's academic failures at Cambridge and Imperial College London reopened old wounds, at a time when the Congress was already battling sustained BJP attacks on the Gandhi family.Aiyar had said: "When he [Rajiv Gandhi] became Prime Minister, I was very surprised.

I thought he was an airline pilot and failed at Cambridge. It is very difficult to fail at Cambridge because the university, to maintain its image, ensures that everyone at least passes. However, despite that, Rajiv Gandhi failed."

He added: "After that, he went to Imperial College in London and failed there as well. Then I thought, how can such a person become the Prime Minister of the country?"Senior Congress leaders publicly criticised Aiyar. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole labelled him "mentally unstable" and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot dismissed him as sarfira (crazy).

Yet, once again, the party stopped short of a clean break.

BJP plays on Aiyar's remarks

Aiyar's latest remarks once again handed the BJP fresh ammunition.The BJP alleged that neither Congress leaders nor its alliance partners accepted Rahul Gandhi as their leader.BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told IANS that a series of recent developments pointed to a growing crisis of confidence in Rahul Gandhi's leadership."In the morning, I saw a news report from Kerala where Mani Shankar Aiyar expressed low confidence in Rahul Gandhi, suggesting he would not be able to lead the Congress to victory.

In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress raised the slogan ‘Remove Rahul, bring Mamata, save the INDIA bloc.' And now in Assam, Bhupen Borah, the former state Congress president, has reportedly left the party," he said.Poonawalla claimed these episodes together showed that faith in Rahul Gandhi was steadily eroding. "One thing is clear — no one has confidence in Rahul Gandhi. He has lost 95 elections and has no mandate," he said, adding that several alliance partners were increasingly keeping their distance."The Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, leaders like Supriya Sule, Omar Abdullah and Hemant Soren — all of them are distancing themselves from Rahul Gandhi," he alleged.He went on to describe Rahul Gandhi as a "non-performing asset" for the INDIA bloc.Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai also stepped up the attack, linking Aiyar's remarks to what he described as ideological confusion within the Congress."Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is from Tamil Nadu, has for years insulted Prime Minister Modi, including calling him a chaiwala.

The Congress chose to keep him in the party. Now, when he goes to Kerala and endorses Mr Vijayan, it shows the broken ideologies under which both the Congress and the Communists are operating," Annamalai said.Claiming a tacit understanding between the Congress and the Left, he added: "Since the Congress knows it cannot win and the BJP is surging in Kerala, I see this statement as an underhanded deal between the Congress and the Communists. What happened in Thiruvananthapuram will be repeated across Kerala."