Editorial: Confessions of a wounded Congress loyalist

Once seen as an intellectual face of the grand old party, Mani Shankar Aiyar marvels at the irony of his political career that was ‘made and unmade by the Gandhis’

A political career nurtured by family patronage ends by the lack of it. This sums up the life and times of veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar who was pushed into political oblivion by the same Gandhi family which bestowed him with positions of power. Despite holding various key positions in the party and in the government, the octogenarian leader finds himself completely isolated, culminating in a suspension and strained relationship with both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. In the twilight years of his life, Aiyar (83), once seen as an intellectual face of the grand old party, reflects on his past in a candid tone that comes naturally to him and marvels at the irony of his political career that was “made and unmade by the Gandhis”. In his forthcoming book A Maverick in Politics, the former Union Minister, whose unhinged public statements often landed his party in trouble, gives a frank account of his blow-hot and cold relationship with the Congress leadership, particularly the Gandhi family. His claim that he was not given an opportunity to meet Sonia Gandhi one-on-one in the last ten years nor was he allowed any substantial engagement with other members of her family speaks volumes about the fragility of patronage-based relationships. “The day Sonia Gandhi got angry with me, the patronage ended,” was how Aiyar put it, reminiscing his rise and slow marginalisation in the party.

The advent of Rahul Gandhi saw Aiyar being stripped of one party position after another. He was suspended from the party in December 2017, following an uproar over his comment calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “neech kisam ka aadmi”. This remark proved to be the epitaph of his long political career, which began under Rajiv Gandhi. Since then, the gulf has only widened and eventually reached a point of no return. Aiyar’s career serves as an example of the limited role of loyalty in the success of a politician in the absence of a strong base and popular support. Rahul Gandhi, he claimed, kept avoiding him “as if I were a political leper.” The standard practice in the party was that Congressmen “begged and pleaded with their president for their rights”, confesses the veteran Congressman in the book, which captures his personal and political journey from 1991 to 2024. Aiyar spoke about a crucial period in 2012, a time he described as marred by dual crises: Sonia Gandhi’s ill health and Manmohan Singh’s multiple bypass surgeries. This left the party in a leadership vacuum. According to Aiyar, the Congress leadership created a paralysis in governance by opting for Singh as Prime Minister despite his declining health and relegating Pranab Mukherjee to the largely ceremonial role of President. This misstep not only undermined the government’s effectiveness but also shattered its credibility in the eyes of both the electorate and the global community.

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