'Rajiv Gandhi failed twice but became PM': Congress, BJP spar after Mani Shankar Aiyar's shocker

Mani Shankar Aiyar

Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has stoked a fresh controversy with sensational 'revelation' on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, describing him as a "two-time failure" in academics.

“When Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister, I thought, how could a person who was an airline pilot and had failed twice become the Prime Minister? I studied with him at Cambridge, where he had failed. Failing at Cambridge University is very difficult because the university tries to ensure that everyone at least passes. But despite that, Rajiv Gandhi failed," Aiyar said in an interview.

"After that, he went to Imperial College in London, and he failed there as well. Then I thought, how can such a person become the Prime Minister of the country?” Aiyar added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to latch on to the veteran's remarks, with party's IT cell head Amit Malviya sharing an excerpt of Aiyar's interview on X, and said: "Let the veil be stripped". As the ruling BJP amplified Aiyar's comments, Congress leaders said the former Union Minister is "irrelevant and frustrated", with one spokesperson calling him a "sleeper cell of BJP".

https://twitter.com/amitmalviya/status/1897199130340176181

Congress leader Rashid Alvi also hit out at BJP's Amit Malviya and alleged that he "has a habit of editing things." "(Amit) Malviya has a habit of editing things. How much of it is right and how much is wrong, only Mani Shankar can tell. But the question is not whether Rajiv Gandhi passed or failed. How was Rajiv Gandhi as a Prime Minister? What kind of work did Rajiv Gandhi do after becoming the Prime Minister? If you want to analyse Rajiv Gandhi, then you have to analyse his work," Alvi said.

The clip was shared from an interview aired on YouTube portal The Ewer (Chill-Pill).The Congressman was responding to a question on whether Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, had the capability or the gravitas to lead the Congress party, strategise and make decisions.

In his response, Aiyar went back to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and how she was once referred to as "gungi gudiya" (a mute doll) before she evolved into a formidable political force. Moving to her son Rajiv Gandhi, Mr Aiyar spoke about his academic failures and the initial surprise when he was chosen for the top post. Mr Aiyar then added, "But I now say he was an excellent Prime Minister."

The Gandhi family loyalist then referred to Rajiv Gandhi's widow Sonia Gandhi and said she was tagged a foreigner when she started her political journey and later became a key player in the Indian political landscape.