Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar recently talked about how his political journey has been shaped by the Gandhi family. Aiyar said that his career was both “made and unmade” because of them. He mentioned that for ten years, he did not have a chance to meet Sonia Gandhi one-on-one or have meaningful conversations with Rahul Gandhi. He has only met Priyanka Gandhi a couple of times.
Aiyar stated, “The irony is that my political career was built by the Gandhis and also destroyed by them.” He added that he is still a member of the Congress party and will never join the BJP, despite being out of the party’s main activities.
Aiyar, who was once an Indian Foreign Service officer before entering politics, recalled a surprising interaction with Sonia Gandhi. He once greeted her with a Christmas wish, and she responded by saying, “I’m not a Christian.” This left him surprised, as he identifies as a non-believer but respects all religions.
In his upcoming book, “A Maverick in Politics,” Aiyar discusses the political changes in 2012. He believes that Pranab Mukherjee should have been made Prime Minister instead of being named President. Aiyar pointed out that during that time, both Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh were unwell, which affected the leadership of the Congress party.
He mentioned that Pranab Mukherjee had the energy and ideas to lead the government. Aiyar thinks that if Pranab had become Prime Minister while Dr. Manmohan Singh was the President, the Congress party would still have lost the 2014 elections, but not by such a large margin
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