Mani Shankar Aiyar embarrasses Congress again

New Delhi: Whenever it comes to causing political embarrassment to the Congress at crucial junctures veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has been at the forefront.

The veteran Congress leader’s latest barb came on the last day of campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls, where the ruling BJP faces a spirited challenge from the Opposition Congress. Mr Aiyar termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “neech aadmi or a vile man”, which ensured the discourse turning away from ground realities.

Taking full advantage of the political full toss by the Congress leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah launched a scathing onslaught on the Congress. Mr Modi said that the Congress leader is using such language because he is from a “poor background”.

This is not the first time that Mr Aiyar has treaded this path.

Just before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mr Aiyar had termed Mr Modi as a “chaiwala” or a “tea-seller”. He had went on to add that Mr Modi can put up a stall.

Many believe that Mr Aiyar’s “chai-wala” barb helped the then BJP prime ministerial candidate a great deal as he often referred to it in his campaign to highlight his humble background and attack the Congress.

In 1998, Mr Aiyar, an articulate English speaker and writer and who described himself on Thursday as a “freelance Congressman” had called the then Prime Minister and BJP stalwart Atal Behari Vajpayee “nalayak”.

The backlash followed by his comment forced him to apologise.