‘Sarfira’: Ashok Gehlot slams Mani Shankar Aiyar for Rajiv Gandhi remark

Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday slammed his party colleague Mani Shankar Aiyar for questioning the competence of late former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, calling him 'sarfira' (a mad person).

Ashok Gehlot said with his remark, Aiyar showed the height of frustration.

"His statements about Rajiv Gandhi reflect the height of frustration. There is so much frustration in him. In such a situation, a person does not know what he is saying. Only a 'sarfira' can say such a thing about Rajiv Gandhi," the former Rajasthan chief minister was quoted as saying by PTI.

Calling Aiyar's comments condemnable, Gehlot said Rajiv Gandhi increased India's prestige abroad as the prime minister.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared a video clip on X on Wednesday, purportedly showing Aiyar claiming that Rajiv Gandhi struggled academically in England.

Congress leader Harish Rawat also defended Rajiv Gandhi, calling Mani Shankar Aiyar a frustrated individual.

"I don't want to comment on someone who is a frustrated individual...I knew Rajiv Gandhi, who gave the country a modern outlook. He took concrete steps for the liberalisation of the economy as well. Unfortunately, a section of the party (Congress) did not stand with him, or else the country's history would have been something else," he said.

Also read: ‘My political career made, unmade by Gandhis’, says Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar

What had Mani Shankar Aiyar said?

Aiyar said Gandhi failed at two prestigious institutions.

"Rajiv Gandhi struggled academically, even failing at Cambridge, where passing is relatively easy. He then moved to Imperial College London but failed there as well. Many questioned how someone with his academic record could become the Prime Minister. Let the veil be stripped"," Amit Malviya captioned his post on 'X.

Also read: ‘Who is Mani Shankar Aiyar?’: Jairam Ramesh on ‘China invasion’ remark

"When Rajiv became (PM), then people thought, or rather I thought, how can an airline pilot, who has failed twice; I studied with him in Cambridge; there he failed once. It is really difficult to fail in Cambridge, it is easy to get first class. But failing is difficult because the university wants to protect its image; they try to at least pass everyone," Mani Shankar Aiyar said during the interview.

"Then he (Rajiv Gandhi) went to the Imperial College of London, then he failed there again. Then I thought: How can such a person become the Prime Minister," Aiyar added.

With inputs from ANI, PTI