NEW DELHI: Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar was wrong in referring to PM Narendra Modi as "neech (lowly)" and without civility and the remarks have the potential to hurt the party though voting trends perhaps reflect a desire for change, former Delhi CM Shiela Dikshit has said.
"Of course his (Aiyar's) statement has been damaging. It may have impacted people...I mean some sections. However, I don't think this would impact results in towns and villages," Dikshit told TOI on Saturday. "I strongly condemn attempts made by some Congress leaders to weaken @OfficeOfRG & @INCIndia. If these leaders truly believe in Congress ideology, they should be more circumspect in their choice of words. We need to all strengthen the hands of our President to be (Rahul Gandhi)," she wrote in a tweet on Thursday.
Dikshit explained that she tweeted after Rahul Gandhi objected to Aiyar's remarks. "I felt that there was a need to come out and say what I wanted to after Rahul Gandhi had made the point. There is a way to say things and some decorum. After all one cannot speak like this about the PM," Dikshit reiterated.
On what she meant when she said some people were trying to weaken Rahul Gandhi and Congress, Dikshit chose not to elaborate. On recent controversies over "democracy and meritocracy" in Congress, Dikshit said, "Rahul Gandhi is a unanimous choice for post of president. No one in the Congress stopped anyone from filing his or her nomination but no one came forward and Rahul Gandhi's nomination is a unanimous choice."
Congress on Thursday suspended Aiyar from primary membership of the party and issued a show-cause notice to him for his comments on Modi. Aiyar had earlier expressed regret for his comments after public censure from the Congress vice-president. The former MP had called Modi "neech kism ka aadmi" (a low life) while reacting to the PM's speech at the inauguration of Ambedkar International Centre where he accused Congress of undermining the Dalit icon's legacy. "Ye aadmi bahut neech kisam ka aadmi hai. Is mein koi sabhyata nahi hai aur aise mauke par is kisam ki gandi rajniti karne ki kya avashyakta hai," he said.
"Of course his (Aiyar's) statement has been damaging. It may have impacted people...I mean some sections. However, I don't think this would impact results in towns and villages," Dikshit told TOI on Saturday. "I strongly condemn attempts made by some Congress leaders to weaken @OfficeOfRG & @INCIndia. If these leaders truly believe in Congress ideology, they should be more circumspect in their choice of words. We need to all strengthen the hands of our President to be (Rahul Gandhi)," she wrote in a tweet on Thursday.
Dikshit explained that she tweeted after Rahul Gandhi objected to Aiyar's remarks. "I felt that there was a need to come out and say what I wanted to after Rahul Gandhi had made the point. There is a way to say things and some decorum. After all one cannot speak like this about the PM," Dikshit reiterated.
On what she meant when she said some people were trying to weaken Rahul Gandhi and Congress, Dikshit chose not to elaborate. On recent controversies over "democracy and meritocracy" in Congress, Dikshit said, "Rahul Gandhi is a unanimous choice for post of president. No one in the Congress stopped anyone from filing his or her nomination but no one came forward and Rahul Gandhi's nomination is a unanimous choice."
Congress on Thursday suspended Aiyar from primary membership of the party and issued a show-cause notice to him for his comments on Modi. Aiyar had earlier expressed regret for his comments after public censure from the Congress vice-president. The former MP had called Modi "neech kism ka aadmi" (a low life) while reacting to the PM's speech at the inauguration of Ambedkar International Centre where he accused Congress of undermining the Dalit icon's legacy. "Ye aadmi bahut neech kisam ka aadmi hai. Is mein koi sabhyata nahi hai aur aise mauke par is kisam ki gandi rajniti karne ki kya avashyakta hai," he said.
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