'Without Mamata, INDIA will ...': Mani Shankar Aiyar kicks up political storm, asks Rahul Gandhi to step aside

Aiyar was earlier suspended from the Congress over controversial remarks about PM Modi and has in recent months made statements praising regional leaders, including Kerala CM Vijayan.

• Aiyar urges Rahul Gandhi to let Mamata lead INDIA bloc
• Congress distances itself from Aiyar's remarks on leadership
• TMC focuses on defeating BJP in upcoming West Bengal elections

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Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has triggered a political storm ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections, suggesting that Rahul Gandhi should step aside and allow regional leaders, particularly Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, to lead the opposition’s INDIA bloc.

Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Aiyar said the alliance’s strength hinged on Banerjee’s leadership. "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," he said.

He added that leadership of the bloc “belongs to smaller parties,” naming leaders such as M.K. Stalin, Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, and expressed hope that Rahul Gandhi would “let them handle it.”

Aiyar’s remarks drew sharp reactions from the Congress’ West Bengal unit, which sought to distance the party from his comments.

Congress state general secretary Suman Roy Chowdhury told NDTV that Aiyar was no longer involved in party affairs.

"Let us make it clear in the beginning, for a long time, Mani Shankar Aiyar is no more attached with the activities of the Congress party," he said, questioning the timing of the statement with five Rajya Sabha seats from Bengal currently vacant.

In a direct attack, Chowdhury alleged that Banerjee acts as a "behind-the-curtain stooge of the BJP against whom the INDIA bloc is fighting," and said Aiyar had "no stakes to make any decision of the Congress party".

Aiyar was earlier suspended from the Congress over controversial remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has in recent months made statements praising regional leaders, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The ruling All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) refrained from directly endorsing Aiyar’s comments.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said the party was focused on the upcoming election battle. “Our primary duty at the moment is to decisively defeat the BJP and ensure that the government is formed here for the fourth time under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee,” he said, adding that “the entire country is watching who is giving the BJP a proper ideological battle.”

West Bengal is headed for Assembly elections in the first half of 2026, with a triangular contest shaping up between the TMC, the BJP and the Congress. Unlike previous elections, the Congress has chosen not to renew its alliance with the CPI(M) this time.

Aiyar, recalling his brief stint with the Trinamool Congress in the late 1990s, said he had once served as Banerjee’s first national secretary but left shortly after joining. On the upcoming polls, he expressed hope that Banerjee would deliver a “crushing reply” to the BJP.