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Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has stoked a fresh controversy with sensational 'revelation' on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, describing him as a "two-time failure" in academics.
“When Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister, I thought, how could a person who was an airline pilot and had failed twice become the Prime Minister? I studied with him at Cambridge, where he had failed. Failing at Cambridge University is very difficult because the university tries to ensure that everyone at least passes. But despite that, Rajiv Gandhi failed," Aiyar said in an interview.
"After that, he went to Imperial College in London, and he failed there as well. Then I thought, how can such a person become the Prime Minister of the country?” he added.
The comments got widely circulated on the social media after Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell head Amit Malviya shared a video clip on X and posted, "Let the veil be stripped."
Responding to the controversy, Congress leader Harish Rawat refused to comment on Aiyar's remarks, dismissing him as a "frustrated individual."
"I don't want to comment on someone who is a frustrated individual. I knew Rajiv Gandhi, who gave the country a modern outlook. He took concrete steps for the liberalisation of the economy as well. Unfortunately, a section of the party (Congress) did not stand with him, or else the country's history would have been something else. His speeches as LoP still guide leaders," said Rawat.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi also hit out at BJP's Amit Malviya and alleged that he "has a habit of editing things."
"(Amit) Malviya has a habit of editing things. How much of it is right and how much is wrong, only Mani Shankar can tell. But the question is not whether Rajiv Gandhi passed or failed. How was Rajiv Gandhi as a Prime Minister? What kind of work did Rajiv Gandhi do after becoming the Prime Minister? If you want to analyse Rajiv Gandhi, then you have to analyse his work," Alvi said.
He further hit out at the BJP for not even showing the academic qualifications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding, "BJP people are not even ready to show the PM's degree. PM himself says that he used to sell tea and have passed matriculation, but we do not see him because of his education. We see him because of his work as a PM."
Mani Shankar Aiyar's controversial remarks have once again put him at odds with the Congress party.