Mani Shankar Aiyar, a top leader in the Congress party and a former diplomat, has been known for decades as a loud and often controversial person. His direct, unedited comments often cause political chaos, make his party look bad, and get a lot of attention from the media.
Problems in the beginning: Comparisons and Fights on Campus
2004 Comment on the Andaman Cellular Jail: When Aiyar visited the Cellular Jail as a Union Minister, he linked Hindutva leader Vinayak Savarkar to Pakistan\’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, saying that both had ideas that caused division. Parties like Shiv Sena were very angry about this, and the Congress-led government had to openly distance itself from what he said.
2011 St. Stephen\’s College Incident
At a college event, Aiyar made fun of students from other Delhi University colleges, like Hansraj and Kirori Mal, by saying bad things about their grades and abilities. When students questioned him, he defended himself even more instead of saying sorry, which made the situation even worse.
Political Campaign Scandals
Angry Comments 2014 “Chaiwala” Comment: During the campaign for the Lok Sabha election, Aiyar called Narendra Modi a “chaiwala,” which means “tea seller,” in a rude way, suggesting that Modi was not fit to be Prime Minister. Leaders in Congress had to quickly take back what they said to limit the damage.
2015 Comments on Terrorist Attacks
Aiyar caused a lot of anger when she said that the 2015 Paris attacks and the shooting at Charlie Hebdo were justified because of France\’s ban on the hijab and the deaths of Muslims. Many people, even people in his own party, didn\’t agree with him.
Fight with the BJP and the 2017 “Neech Aadmi” slur: During heated political arguments, Aiyar called Prime Minister Modi a “neech aadmi,” which is a slur based on race. This got him a lot of negative reactions. Congress briefly suspended him, but Aiyar said the phrase was meant to hurt Modi\’s mind, not his caste.
Recent controversies and continued speaking out
Thoughts on the Pahalgam Attack (2023–2025): BJP and others said it was insensitive to the victims to connect the 2017 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir to unresolved Partition-related problems.
Criticism of Rajiv Gandhi\’s Academic Record: Aiyar\’s comments, which called former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi\’s academic qualifications into question, were used against him in the elections and caused a backlash within the party.
The Firebrand\’s Long-Term Place in Congress
Even though he gets criticized a lot, Mani Shankar Aiyar is still a dedicated (if sometimes tense) Congress party member. His style, which is a mix of humour and sharp criticism, makes enemies and stirs up political unrest. He is known as a “controversy creator.”
In this way, his recent criticism of Shashi Tharoor over the “Operation Sindoor” political outreach fits. He goes against the party line, starts a debate, and stays in the spotlight, for better or worse.
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