Former Union Mani Shankar Aiyar hit back at Congress party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, claiming that if Khera expels him from the grand old party, he would “happily go outside and kick his backside” after leaving.
“…I am in the Congress party, I haven’t left it. If Pawan Khera is going to expel me, I will happily go outside and kick his backside after I have left,” Aiyar told news wire ANI.
Aiyar’s remarks come after Pawan Khera, on Sunday, claimed that the leader “has had no connection whatsoever with the Congress for the past few years.”
Aiyar served as the Union minister for panchayati raj during the Congress-led UPA government. He was suspended from Congress in December 2017 after a controversial remark about PM Modi, which was revoked August 2018.
What did Mani Shankar Aiyar say?
Ahead of the Kerala Assembly polls, Aiyar expressed confidence on Sunday that the current Chief Minister – Pinarayi Vijayan – of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will continue to be the state’s chief minister.
He made the comments at an international seminar in Thiruvananthapuram titled “Vision 2031: Development and Democracy”, which was inaugurated by the Kerala CM.
Reacting to his remarks, Pawan Khera wrote on X: “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.”
Assembly Elections are due in Kerala this year.
‘…sure will be the next CM’
Aiyar further mentioned that Karnataka has exemplary contemporary legislation based on the recommendations of the Ramesh Kumar Committee, to which he had suggested 38 amendments and all of those were accepted.
“So in the presence of the chief minister, who I am sure will be the next chief minister, I renew my plea that in order to reinforce Kerala as the best panchayati raj state in the country, state laws should be amended based on practical experience, Thomas Isaac’s insights, the five-volume report I chaired and the note on district planning by V K Ramachandran circulated by the Planning Commission when it truly supported panchayati raj,” he said.
Aiyar claimed that there is no champion for panchayati raj left in the country.
“Therefore, I must fall at your feet, Chief Minister Vijayan, and request you to pick up the baton that the Congress has dropped. Thank you and may Kerala prosper,” he said.
How other Congress leaders reacted?
Reacting to Aiyar’s remarks, Congress MP K Suresh said: “Mani Shankar Aiyar is not involved in Congress party activities. He has retired from Congress. If such a person is making a statement, it is not related to the Congress party.”
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