'Rebel' Mani Shankar Aiyar sends message to Congress high command: 'Still in party but ...'

Veteran Congress leader and ex-Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar

Congress's Mani Shankar Aiyar, who has been in the news for his recent controversial statements on multiple issues, said his party has “disowned” him.

Speaking at News18 Town Hall in Chennai, the leaders said, “I am still a proud Congressman. But Congress has disowned me.”

He also said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin stands for "unity and harmony".

Earlier, he had fired a fresh salvo at Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, saying that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the real leader of the INDIA bloc, and the alliance would perish without her.

Speaking to IANS, Aiyar remarked, “Without Mamata di, the ‘I’, ‘N’, ‘D’, ‘I’, ‘A’ of the INDIA alliance will be gone. Because Mamata Banerjee is the leader of this alliance. Along with her, there are two to four others who can achieve this position.”

“I hope that instead of trying to remain in this position, which belongs to smaller parties – whether it’s Stalin, Mamata Didi, Akhilesh, Tejashwi, or someone else – Rahul Gandhi should let them handle it,” Aiyar told IANS.

This followed days after Mani Shankar Aiyar publicly criticised Rahul Gandhi’s leadership of the Congress, remarking that while he remained a Gandhian, a Nehruvian and a Rajivian, he did not consider himself a “Rahulian.”

Aiyar had also drawn sharp reactions within the party after praising the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala and expressing confidence that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would return for a third consecutive term. While Vijayan welcomed the remarks, the Congress quickly distanced itself from Aiyar’s comments.

Meanhwhile, the media and publicity department chairman, Pawan Khera, asserted that Mani Shankar Aiyar was no longer associated with the party.

A member of the party’s communication team told The Indian Express that the Congress was accustomed to handling such episodes involving sidelined leaders. “We have enough veterans who can give us a headache. We know how to handle them, but it often leads to some hurried decisions to contain the situation,” a senior Congress communication team member said.