Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has a reputation for making hard-hitting observations on major political issues.
Given that a host of Congress leaders have expressed resentment, disappointment or even resignation at the party's action against Sachin Pilot, it is no surprise that Mani Shankar Aiyar has also decided to air his views. The Sachin Pilot saga has been highlighted as another example of the clash between the "old guard" of the Congress versus the "young guns", perceived to be represented by the likes of Pilot.
Aiyar referred to the "betrayal" of the Congress by Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia in an article published in The Indian Express on Wednesday. Aiyar, who is projected to be a member of the old guard who is loyal to party chief Sonia Gandhi, compared Rahul Gandhi to William Shakespeare's tragic character King Lear. Aiyar wrote in The Indian Express, " There is something of King Lear about Rahul Gandhi. Those he loves the most are the first to betray him. Those who he loves the least are those who remain with him."
Aiyar wrote Pilot and Scindia were the "two best friends" of Rahul when he entered Parliament in 2004. Aiyar wrote in The Indian Express, "It was their proximity to him that created the mythology of the older generation versus the younger, engaged in a life-and-death tussle to climb the maypole of prominence in the Congress... It is the high achievers who leave for what they believe to be richer pastures." Aiyar argued that other young Congress leaders who were "more modest in their ambitions and in their achievements" have remained faithful to the party.
Aiyar attacked Pilot and Scindia, alleging they had a "flexible conscience". Aiyar wrote, "In avenging themselves on the party that nurtured them, they can take what satisfaction they wish, but it requires something of a flexible conscience to reconcile years of luxuriating in all the rewards fed them by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi when they were still in their twenties and thirties...". Aiyar wrote the leaders had bit “the hand that has thus far fed them so abundantly”.
Aiyar referred to the quick progress of Pilot's career in the Congress, noting he became an MP at age of 26 years, Union minister at age of 32, Rajasthan Congress chief at 36 and deputy chief minister at 40 years. "Of course, his abilities had a great deal to do with his dizzying rise. But patronage too was working...," Aiyar wrote in The Indian Express.
Aiyar claimed youth was not the reason both Pilot and Scindia missed out on the chance to become chief minister of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively. "They were not preferred because Gehlot had the numbers and Scindia was defeated at the hustings while Kamal Nath won," Aiyar wrote in The Indian Express.
Aiyar compared Scindia and Pilot to "spoilt children". "Both were willing to share in the good times. It says something about their upbringing as spoilt children that they were not able to take adversity on the chin...," Aiyar wrote in The Indian Express.
Aiyar claimed the lesson from the Sachin Pilot revolt for the Congress was "that we need a hands-on leader who enjoys the confidence of the party". He said the only options for this post were Sonia Gandhi and her children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Aiyar wrote this reliance on the Nehru-Gandhi family is "written into the party’s DNA" and attributed it to their charisma.
