The Congress on Monday distanced itself from former MP Mani Shankar Aiyar’s comment, a day after he publicly said that Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan would return to office following the Assembly elections this year.
Pawan Khera, chairman of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) media and publicity department, snubbed the remarks. “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,” he wrote on X.
Congress election committee chairman in Kerala Ramesh Chennithala echoed Khera’s words. “Pawan Khera has made it clear that he (Aiyar) is not a part of the party. He (Aiyar) may have made those comments (about CM Pinarayi) as a gesture of gratitude for being invited to that event. Since he is no longer a part of the Congress, we don’t take his words seriously,” he said.
Meanwhile, the former Union minister stressed that he remains a member of the Congress and that only AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge could oust him from the organisation. “Only one person can kick me out of the party and that is Mallikarjun Kharge,” he said.
Responding to Khera’s post, Aiyar said, “How dare he make repeated announcements about me? If the Congress party cannot find anyone but Khera to be its spokesman, then it will remain in the condition in which it is,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Responding to Khera’s post, Aiyar said, “How dare he make repeated announcements about me? If the Congress party cannot find anyone but Khera to be its spokesman, then it will remain in the condition in which it is,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Aiyar also said that his words were “blown out of proportion” by the media and that the words directed to CM Vijayan was “just half a line” in his statement.
On Sunday, Aiyar, while addressing a seminar in Thiruvananthapuram, heaped praise on Kerala and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, stating that it remains the best Panchayati Raj state in the country.
He said that he was “confident” that Vijayan will continue as the chief minister. He added that the LDF government should “pick up the baton that the Congress has dropped” in taking the Panchayati Raj system in the country forward.
Later on Monday evening, Aiyar went on a tirade against his party colleagues, branding party MP Shashi Tharoor and “unprincipled careerist” and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal a “rowdy”. He also took a swipe at Chennithala.
“I have never met a more unprincipled careerist than Shashi Tharoor who, because Congress did not make him the foreign minister, is now trying to become Modi’s foreign minister. The Congress party was built on principles, not on opportunism,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)