After Chaiwala and Neech, did Mani Shankar Aiyar call Modi a ‘madman’?

New Delhi: Stoking a major controversy amid the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has seemingly used the term “pagal” (madman) for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for probable use of “our atom bomb” on Lahore.

"They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a ‘madman’ decides to drop 'our bomb' on Lahore, it won’t take 8 seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar," he warned. 

Aiyar's madman jibe is apparently for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Did Mani Shankar Aiyar just call PM Modi a 'madman'?



"If a ‘madman’ decides to drop our bomb on Lahore, it won’t take 8 seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar," he says. #LokSabhaElections2024 #Congress #BJP #ManiShankarAiyar #RahulGandhi #NarendraModi pic.twitter.com/FhaJFr0j6C

— NewsDrum (@thenewsdrum) May 10, 2024

The veteran leader, isn’t new to courting controversies and had before the 2019 general elections used the "Neech" slur for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for which he was suspended by the Congress for two years. 

The Gandhi family loyalist had been launching personal attacks on PM Modi, terming him as 'chaiwala' or 'neech' ahead of crucial political events.  

Aiyar has again courted controversy by saying that India should engage in dialogue with Pakistan and not flex its military muscles.  

He stated that the government could talk tough to Islamabad if it wants to, but if it doesn’t respect the neighbouring country, it may have to pay a heavy price. 

Aiyar has been repeatedly advocating for normalising India-Pakistan relations over the past several years, while the Modi government has continued to deny any engagement with the long-time foe.

Aiyar’s comment has caused a major controversy and is somewhat similar to the statement made by Abdullah who said “Pakistan is not wearing bangles and also has atom bombs that will fall on us”. 

This controversy has ensured that motormouth INDIA bloc leaders, Congress' Aiyar and National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah have made Pakistan a factor in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Abdullah’s comments came in response to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's remark on a possible merger of PoK with India.

Even as the INDIA bloc was yet to emerge from repeated controversies stoked by statements of Congress’ Sam Pitroda, a video of Aiyar has surfaced in which he is calling for giving more respect to Pakistan due to its nuclear status.

Congress may have tried to distance itself from the recent statements made by Pitroda by giving him a dignified exit, the statement made by Aiyar is expected to come back to haunt the grand old party as the BJP is expected to raise the issue repeatedly before people.    

BJP plans to target INDIA bloc over its “anti-national” stance

With campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls in full swing, the BJP is now likely to bring the alleged “anti-national” stance of the opposition before the people in the remaining phases of polling. At his future political rallies and public contact programs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to ensure that the message that only BJP stands for nationalism is sent across to the people.

These comments have ensured that the BJP is again allowed to get a hold over its favourite political strategy card “muscular nationalism” even as the campaign for Lok Sabha is set to enter slogovers.

It is believed that the saffron unit will now refresh the memories of the people regarding the surgical strikes in Pakistan and why there was a need to get tough with Pakistan. The Indian government led by PM Modi has been taking a tough stance against Pakistan due to its continued support of terrorist activities. 

The BJP prides itself for calling out Pakistan’s much-touted nuclear bogey and is likely to flex the same in the ongoing electoral season as well.

The grand old party faced a severe backlash in a case much similar to the neech episode as the BJP was quick to pounce at the controversy and termed it as “anti-Dalit, OBC mindset of Congress”.

Over the next few days the Congress urgently needs to get its house in order or else its own leaders, like Pitroda and Aiyar, with help from INDIA bloc allies like Abdullah, are expected to ensure the political demise of the grand old party.