Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today directed party spokespersons to refrain from launching personal attacks on opposition leaders while making public statements. The Congress second-in-command specifically referred to Mani Shankar Aiyar's 'chaiwala' remark on BJP prime ministerial Narendra Modi on 18 January during the AICC session in New Delhi.
"It is wrong to make personal attacks on the Opposition," Gandhi told Congress spokespersons on Wednesday during an internal meeting, NDTV reported.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. PTI
Aiyar had on 18 January mocked Modi's prime ministerial ambitions and said a place will be identified for the Gujarat chief minister to distribute tea at the venue of the AICC session.
"I promise you in the 21st century Narendra Modi will never become the prime minister of the country. But if he wants to distribute tea here, we will find a place for him," Aiyar had said.
Aiyar's remarks had come against the backdrop of Modi's reference to his own socio-economic background and humble origins at rallies while targeting the Gandhi-Nehru family.
On the following day in an attempt to limit the damage, Congress general secretary Ajay Maken, who is in charge of the media department, had said, "The party does not approve of the statement."
However, this did not protect the Congress from BJP's ire.
While BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar described Aiyar as an "icon of cheap thinking", Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley posted on Twitter that "the strength of Indian democracy will be proved when a former tea vendor defeats a dynasty representative. Let this be the battle of 2014."
Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal had earlier made similar remarks against Modi, saying a person who used to sell tea cannot have a national perspective.
With PTI input
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