Mani Shankar Aiyar was suspended on December 7.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday revoked the suspension of Mani Shankar Aiyar from primary membership of the party, eight months after the disciplinary action was initiated against him for his controversial remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The “Congress president has approved the recommendation of the Central Disciplinary Committee of AICC for revocation of suspension of Mani Shankar Aiyar from primary membership of the party with immediate effect”, a late-night statement by AICC general secretary (organisation) Ashok Gehlot said.
Aiyar was suspended on December 7, the day the polling for the first phase of Gujarat elections came to a close, after he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “neech kisam ka aadmi”. The remark had left the Congress red-faced after Modi linked the word ‘neech’ to his caste and hit back at the Congress.
Rahul had then rebuked Aiyar, first on Twitter, asking him to apologise to the PM, and hours later suspended him from the party’s primary membership. The A K Antony-headed disciplinary action committee then issued him a showcause notice.
It is not clear what prompted the central disciplinary committee of Congress to recommend revocation of Aiyar’s suspension.
Gehlot – who was then in-charge of Gujarat – had after the Assembly polls admitted that statements made by some leaders including Aiyar had given PM Modi the opportunity to divert attention from issues the Congress had been raising in Gujarat and they benefited from it.