Neech aadmi comment row: Congress swings into action, suspends Mani Shankar Aiyar from party
Congress today evening suspended Aiyar from the primary membership of the party.
In Short
- Congress suspends Mani Shankar Aiyar over neech comment row.
- Congress earlier issued a show cause notice to the Rajya Sabha MP.
- PM Modi said that voters will give a befitting reply to the jibe.
Hours after Mani Shankar Aiyar called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "neech aadmi", the Congress swung into action to control the damage done to the party ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election.
The Congress today evening suspended Aiyar from the primary membership of the party.
The Congress also issued a show cause notice to the Rajya Sabha MP.
Earlier today, Aiyar had launched an offensive against PM Modi calling him a 'neech aadmi' (low life) and not a cultured person.
This led to an outrage with the BJP attacking the grand old party for the controversial statement.
PM Modi, who was in Gujarat, while addressing an election rally said the voters will give a befitting reply to Aiyar's jibe.
To control the damage, the Congress distanced itself from the derogatory remark. The party vice president Rahul Gandhi admonished Aiyar and asked him to tender an apology to Modi.
Aiyar said sorry to Modi. However, he blamed his poor Hindi for the gaffe.
Finally, in the evening the Congress issued a show cause notice to the Rajya Sabha MP and suspended him from the primary membership of the party.
A battery of BJP leaders strongly condemned Aiyar's disparaging remarks against PM Modi.
Meanwhile, BJP president Amit Shah in a series of tweets attacked Congress after Aiyar made the neech remark. Shah said that he was neither shocked nor surprised by Aiyar's comments on PM Modi.
He said that it was the culture of the Congress party. He also tweeted a series of names used by Congress to refer PM Modi in the past.
Neither shocked nor surprised by Mani Shankar Aiyars referring to PM as Neech. This is the culture of the Congress Party. People of Gujarat will punish anti-poor, anti-Dalit, anti-Tribal and anti-OBC Congress.- Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 7, 2017
YamrajMaut Ka SaudagarRavanGandi Nali Ka KeedaMonkeyRabies VictimVirusBhasmasurGangu TeliGoonThese are some words or phrases Congress has used for PM @narendramodi in the past. Not much has changed. We wish them well. We will continue to serve 125 crore Indians.- Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 7, 2017
WATCH: Manishankar Aiyar: Sorry for calling Modi neech, which can be interpreted as low-born