New Delhi: Days after publicly hoping for Pinarayi Vijayan’s victory in the upcoming Kerala elections, veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is key to the survival of the opposition India bloc.While speaking to news agency IANS, Aiyar suggested that he should be the Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi
Small party leaders should be allowed to guide the Indian bloc.“Without Mamata D, all ‘I’, ‘N’, ‘D’, ‘I’ and ‘A’ will disappear from the Indian alliance. Because Mamata Banerjee is the leader of this alliance,” Aiyar said.“I hope that instead of trying to stay in this position, which belongs to smaller parties – be it MK Stalin, Mamata Didi, Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, or whoever – Rahul Gandhi should let them get on with it,” he added.Recalling his early political association with Mamata Banerjee, Aiyar said he briefly joined the Trinamool Congress in 1997 and served as its first national secretary but left within weeks, concluding that the party was rooted in Bengali identity.Asked whether he was still in Congress, Aiyar said he still considered himself a member of the party but suggested possible disciplinary action against him.“I consider myself a member of Congress, but it seems they may have decided to expel me.
“But I did not receive any official letter,” Aiyar said.He added that although reports indicate that he has been expelled, he has not received any official communication.“If you want the Congress’s view, ask a Congress member,” Aiyar noted, while also saying that he believes many within the Congress support Mamata Banerjee.Earlier, Aiyar praised the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.Matters escalated rapidly when Aiyar, in his conversation with Ani, rejected the authority of the current Congress leadership and declared: “I am a Gandhian, I am a Nehruvian, I am a Rajivite, but I am not a Rahuli.”Recalling B. R. Ambedkar’s description of the opposition as “part but separate,” Aiyar positioned himself as an ideological insider with the right to rebel. But the tone quickly turned confrontational.Taking aim at Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, Aiyar said: “I have absolutely no respect and absolutely despise Pawan Khera… He is not a spokesman, he is a parrot.”Within hours, Congress distanced itself from these statements and publicly severed any association with Aiyar.Khera issued a statement on
