Opinion | Sonia-Rahul To Maken, Why Mani Shankar Aiyar Keeps Ditching His Verbal 'Filter'

Mani Shankar Aiyar has been known to create political storms with his words. The former Rajya Sabha parliamentarian used to joke that in the time of Rajiv Gandhi, he was always on "arsh" (cloud nine) while in the UPA regime under the then Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi, he was brought down to "farsh" (ground).

Now, in the Rahul Gandhi era, too, Aiyar has been shown the door several times. His humiliation was complete when the All India Congress Committee (AICC) media department head, Pawan Khera, wrote on X, "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."

Aiyar was quick to retort in his trademark style and told the media, "I have not left the Congress. If Pawan Khera is going to expel me, I will happily go outside and kick his backside after I have left." Aiyar also described Khera as a "puppet", implying that the media department head was acting on behalf of 'someone else'. 

Many in the Congress think the allusion is to Rahul Gandhi. But those familiar with the internal goings-on in the grand old party point towards Jairam Ramesh, the chairman of the AICC's communication department. The rivalry between Jairam Ramesh and Mani Shankar Aiyar dates back to the 1980s and requires a separate volume.

Priyanka's Snub

Aiyar's disillusionment with the Congress hit its peak when his third autobiographical account, titled A Maverick in Politics 1991-2024, was released in New Delhi, and no member of the Nehru-Gandhi family turned up at the India International Centre on December 16, 2024, for its launch. Aiyar had earlier gone to campaign for Priyanka Gandhi at Wayanad during the Lok Sabha bypolls. Priyanka had reportedly agreed to release his book, but her office feigned ignorance, declining to give any time or date.

Aiyar isn't new to courting controversies. From alluding to a party colleague as a "gangster's moll" - when Arjun Singh, Sheila Dikshit and some others rebelled against then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1995, Aiyar had alluded to Sheila as a "gangster's moll" in his magazine column - to calling Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee "nalayak" (useless person), the career diplomat in Mani Shankar Aiyar has let just one too many un-diplomatic gaffes to blot his political track record.

He had once called Narendra Modi a "neech kism ka aadmi" (indecent man) in retaliation for a remark the Prime Minister had made at the inauguration of the Ambedkar International Centre, about the Congress undermining the legacy of BR Ambedkar.

"Nalayak Neta" And Other Gaffes

In November 1998, Aiyar, appointed Congress spokesperson, had dubbed Atal Bihari Vajpayee a "layak vyakti, nalayak neta" (competent person, useless leader). "I have subsequently learned that the expression I used could have an unparliamentary connotation," he said in his apology. "Not being a native Hindi speaker, I seem to have inadvertently used an improper expression, for which I wish to tender my apologies to the Prime Minister for any offence unintentionally caused," Aiyar had told this correspondent. He said he had initially been "tempted to use the Hindi word 'ayogya' (undeserving), but in Tamil [Aiyar's mother tongue] it has a different and rather derogatory meaning". So, said Aiyar, he consulted a dictionary and surmised that there was a word, "nalayak", to describe a person as weak.

Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Aiyar had infamously dismissed Modi as a "chaiwalla" (tea seller), prompting the BJP leader to portray the remark as an insult to his "humble roots" and project the Congress as arrogant. "I promise you, in the 21st century, Narendra Modi will never become the Prime Minister of the country ... But if he wants to distribute tea here [at a Congress event], we will find a place for him," Aiyar had said.

It's not just political opponents who have felt the sting of Aiyar's verbal lashes. In September 2013, he had described fellow Congress politician and Union sports minister Ajay Maken derisively as a "BA pass from Hansraj College" and wondered how he could use "big words" like "dichotomous".

The St Stephen's Complex

As an aside, Aiyar's taunt perhaps also reflected the scorn in which the brightest and the best from his alma mater, St Stephen's College, often regard their peers from not-so-posh institutions. So, students of the illustrious Hindu College are referred to as people from "across the road". Kirorimal and Hansraj colleges may have impeccable academic credentials, but their students do not figure on the Stephanian social radar, which restricts itself to the fellow "elite" from the upscale Miranda House and the Sri Ram College of Commerce.

At another occasion, Aiyar took a dig at - of all people - Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Referring to the Congress organisational polls, he had said, "I feel that only two people can be the next Congress president, mother or son." Congress insiders say that since 2014, Aiyar has no longer been close to either Sonia or Rahul and has not received an audience from them.

Sometimes, though, his digs have sparkled with waspish wit. For instance, Aiyar once recalled noticing a remark by former Congress minister Natwar Singh on the visitors' book at St Stephen's. "I am what I am because of St Stephen's," Natwar had written. Aiyar asked for a pencil and scribbled under it: "Why blame the college?"

(Rasheed Kidwai is an author, columnist and conversation curator)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author