Tribune Web Desk
New Delhi, May 14
Two years after his “neech aadmi” remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw him being politically sidelined, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar may have got his own back.
In an ‘I-told-you-so’ opinion piece he recently wrote in newspaper Rising Kashmir, also reproduced in news portal The Print, Aiyar gleefully points out Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent claims in interviews and election speeches that, as it turns out, drew criticism, even ridicule, from several quarters—including former defence force officers.
The first instance Aiyar speaks about is the recent “radar in the clouds” statement that the prime minister made in a recent interview to a television channel.
This, the article he said, was an “insult” to the armed forces, because radar wasn’t a “telescope whose vision can be clouded over”.
“Did Modi take his senior-most Air Force officers for fools that he could trot out such ridiculous unscientific rubbish before them? And were they so pusillanimous that they dared not correct such a vacuous Prime Minister,” he writes.
The other instance of “insult” he referred to was when Modi said at a public meeting in Delhi at Rajiv Gandhi, a former prime minister, used INS Viraat on a private holiday—a claim since debunked by former officers of the armed forces.
Toward the end of the piece, Aiyar writes: “Modi needs to be warned that he is guilty of anti-national activity in trying to ride on the sacrifices of our army and CRPF martyrs in a dirty election campaign; of defaming the Indian Air Force by portraying them as complaisant idiots in his scientific illiteracy; and the Indian Navy as being packed at its highest echelons with traitors who would acquiesce in unauthorised foreigners being allowed to board a top of the line defence vessel”.
“But then, why bother? Modi will, in any case, be ousted by the people of India on 23 May. That would be a fitting end to the most foul-mouthed prime minister this country has seen or is likely to see. Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic?”
Later, in an interview to news agency ANI, Aiyar said he’d written all that he wanted to say in the opinion piece, and that he stood by his remarks.
‘Abuser-in-chief’
BJP leaders reacted to the article with derision. BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao called Aiyar "abuser-in-chief".
In reaction to the opinion piece, Rao said: “Aiyar then apologized & hid behind poor Hindi excuse. Now he says he was prophetic. Congr revoked his suspension last year for filthy outburst.Double speak & arrogance of @INCIndia on display again!"
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya said Aiyar wrote the piece because he was “upset with all the attention” that senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda was getting over his remarks about the anti-Sikh riots of 1984.
"Upset that Sam Pitroda was getting all the attention, the irrepressible Mani Shankar Aiyar pulls Pitroda's foot out of his mouth and puts it in his...Reiterates and justifies his ‘Neech' comment for PM!" he said on Twitter.
He was referring to Pitroda’s statement in a recent interview. Pitroda has been quoted as saying: “’84 mein hua to hua (What happened in ‘84, happened). Why talk about it now. Talk about what you’ve (BJP have done in the past five years”.
The statements drew severe backlash from several quarters, including the opposition, and a sharp rebuke from Congress president Rahul Gandhi.