Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 16 "What do you think of a party that chooses KC Venugopal as the Sardar Patel to Rahul Gandhi? And what do you think of a party that cannot find anyone but Pawan Khera to be their spokesman?…" senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote on social media from Thiruvananthapuram, setting off fresh ripples within the grand old party.
The pointed remarks, widely interpreted as targeting senior leaders K.C. Venugopal and Pawan Khera, have added to internal unease in the Congress at a politically sensitive time in Kerala.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Aiyar went further, describing the Left government in Kerala as a "Rajeevian government", arguing that it had realised the decentralised governance vision of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Seated beside Aiyar were State Local Self-Government Minister M. B. Rajesh and former State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.
He said that only four states -- Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana -- have meaningfully implemented that vision, all of them in south India.
Kerala, he added, was performing strongly on governance indicators.
At the same time, Aiyar maintained that, as a Congressman, he would like the United Democratic Front (UDF) to return to power.
However, "as a Gandhian", he felt compelled to state that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is likely to return to office.
He described Vijayan as intelligent and said that he hoped a re-elected government would continue global outreach efforts, including sending delegations abroad.
"Even the border of my dhoti carries the tricolour of the Congress," he said, underlining his ideological commitment despite his criticism of party functionaries.
His criticism extended to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, whom he described as “the biggest careerist,” questioning what he called Tharoor's praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite having served as a Union Minister in the UPA government.
Dismissing speculation about switching parties, Aiyar said that no political formation would want an independent-minded "troublemaker"
If expelled from the Congress, he added, he would then consider how best to make his voice heard.
Slamming Aiyar, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan asked "who Aiyar was and whether he was not the one who had received everything from the Congress party".
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