After months of silence, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar was back in the news on Tuesday with an article justifying his "neech" jibe against Narendra Modi, and also calling him the most "foul-mouthed" prime minister the country has seen.
The article, published in Rising Kashmir and The Print, drew sharp retorts from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which called him "abuser-in-chief" and described his party as arrogant.
In the article, Aiyar also slammed Modi on a series of issues and asked, "Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic?"
In 2017, the former Union minister called Modi "neech aadmi" following which he was suspended from the Congress party.
Justifying that comment, Aiyar said in his article, "Modi will, in any case, be ousted by the people of India on 23 May. That would be a fitting end to the most foul-mouthed prime minister this country has seen or is likely to see. Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic?"
Later, in Shimla, when reporters questioned him on the controversy, Aiyar said it was just one line in his article and he will not get involved in media's games. "I am a fool, but not such a big fool," he said.
At the same time, the Congress distanced itself from the remarks of Aiyar saying it is his personal opinion, even as the party accused the prime minister of lowering the dignity of his office.
Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said his party is not on the back foot regarding Aiyar's remarks, instead it should be Modi who should be ashamed for his remarks on former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. "Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks are his own as stated by him in his article. The Congress is neither on the back foot nor ashamed of his remarks. It's the PM who should be ashamed for lowering the dignity of the office he occupies by making disparaging remarks against former PM Rajiv Gandhi and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi. The PM should apologise to the country for the abusive language that he has used," Shergill said, referring to Modi recently saying Rajiv Gandhi's life ended as 'Bhrashtachari No 1' (corrupt number 1)."
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Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao tweeted: "... Aiyar then apologised & hid behind poor Hindi excuse. Now he says he was prophetic. Congr revoked his suspension last year for filthy outburst. Double speak & arrogance of @INCIndia on display again!" he said.
"Pak-crony Aiyar has the audacity to call PM 'anti-national'. Nation knows that @narendramodi ji is the epitome of 'Rashtra Bhakti'. Aiyar is known for 'Parivar Bhakti' as a (political) slave of the dynasty. It isn't surprising at all that all abusers are close Gandhi confidants."
BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya also referred to Congress leader Sam Pitroda, in the spotlight for his "hua to hua" remark on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. "Upset that Sam Pitroda was getting all the attention, the irrepressible Mani Shankar Aiyar pulls Pitroda's foot out of his mouth and puts it in his...Reiterates and justifies his Neech' comment for PM!" he said on Twitter.
In the article, Aiyar said he has found out why Modi "loathes" Jawaharlal Nehru so much—because Nehru had a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, and was convinced that to pull Indians out of superstition, modern India must cultivate a scientific temper.
This, Aiyar said, drives Hindutva supporters "nuts because they like to believe the 'udan khatolas' of mythology were the earliest F-16s to be invented by Hindus, and that Hindu plastic surgery, not a transplant operation, is what led to an elephant's head surmounting Lord Ganesh."
