vote(Eds: Adds suspension of Aiyar from Congress, Jaitley'squote)New Delhi/Surat, Dec 7 (PTI) The Congress tonightsuspended the primary membership of Mani Shankar Aiyar afterthe Gandhi family loyalist set off a firestorm by callingPrime Minister Narendra Modi "neech aadmi" (a vile person),remarks fraught with adverse consequences for the partyin poll-bound Gujarat.
In an apparent move to contain the possible damage barelytwo days ahead of the keenly contested Assembly elections inthe prime minister's home state, the Congress announceddisciplinary action against Aiyar, insisting it showed theparty's "Gandhian leadership".
"The Congress party has served a show cause notice toMani Shankar Aiyar and suspended him from the primarymembership of the party," Congress's communications departmentincharge Randeep Surjewala said.
"This is Congress' Gandhian leadership and respect forits political rivals....Will Modi ji display such courage?,"he asked.
"He (Modi) is 'neech kism ka aadmi' (a vile man) who hasno 'sabhyata' (civility)," Aiyar said earlier today in anill-timed comment, attacking Modi after the latter accused theCongress of seeking votes in B R Ambedkar's name but trying toerase his contribution to nation building.
An apparently rattled Congress vice president RahulGandhi, who is set to assume the reins of the party from hismother Sonia Gandhi midway through the Gujarat elections,admonished Aiyar through Twitter and virtually instructed himto tender apology.
"BJP and PM routinely use filthy language to attack theCongress party. The Congress has a different culture andheritage. I do not appreciate the tone and language used by MrMani Shankar Aiyer to address the PM. Both the Congress and Iexpect him to apologise for what he said," Gandhi said onTwitter.
A chastised Aiyar did proffer a conditional apology, butthat did not apparently smooth the ruffled feathers of thetroubled Congress leadership which suspended his primarymembership to contain the possible damage his comment mightcause in Gujarat elections.
Modi, the seasoned campaigner, quickly lapped up Aiyar'scomment to launch a scalding attack on the Congress leader andhis party, claiming the remark was a casteist slur againsthim.
"Shriman (Mr) Mani Shankar Aiyar today said that Modiis of 'neech' (lower) caste and is 'neech' (vile). Is this notan insult to Gujarat?"You called us donkey, you called us 'gandi nali kakeeda' (worm of a dirty drain), you called us 'maut kasaudagar' (merchant of death), you said I am of 'neech jaati'(lower caste man) and 'neech'. But we will live according toour 'sanskars' (values)," Modi said, launching an onslaughtagainst Congress leaders who called him names in the past.
"This is a Mughal mentality where if such a person (whocomes from a humble background) wears good clothes in avillage, they have a problem," he said.
After the rebuke by the Congress leadership, Aiyar, knownfor making off-the-cuff remarks against political rivals thatoften embarrassed his party, was soon on national televisionproffering clarification, insisting it was because of his poorunderstanding of Hindi language that he used the word, andtendering apology.
"I am told that 'neech' has many meanings, manyconnotations in Hindi, and if Mr Modi chooses to distort it toclaim that it means low born, then all I can do is toapologise for having used a word that could be interpreted aslow born. But that was not my intention at all and certainlynot a part of my culture.
"Therefore, for the misinterpretation that can be givento the word, I extend my apologies, particularly sinceit is going to harm the Congress party's interests inGujarat," he said, in an open admission that his comment wouldhave adverse consequences for the party.
When repeatedly asked if he was tendering apology forcalling Modi 'neech', Aiyar said,"Do I apologise about theword 'low'? No. Do I apologise about the word that istranslated which says 'low born'? Absolutely yes."The Congress leader said he does not think Modi was lowborn "but the language...I would say is very low".
Reacting to Aiyar's suspension, Finance Minister ArunJaitley said on Twitter: "Mani Shankar Aiyer’s ‘Neech’ -attack on Prime Minister- a deliberate casteist statement, aconvenient apology, a strategic suspension. People should seethrough this game. PTI SKC/PD SKSK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.