At Mahila Congress meet, Aiyar talks of sending PM Modi to seashore

New Delhi, Aug 20: Making yet another jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Wednesday said he would be forced to retreat to Gandhinagar and then could be driven "to the seashore" if the party managed to align with elected women representatives.

"If you bring such women who are active in public life into Congress, Modiji will have to go to Gandhinagar by tomorrow and then we will drive him to the seashore," Aiyar told workers of Mahila Congress.

This is not the first time that Aiyar has targeted Modi and his 'chaiwalla' barb earlier at the BJP leader had drawn sharp reactions. Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat where Modi ruled as Chief Minister for over 13 years before moving to Delhi after becoming Prime Minister.

Talking to Mahila Congress workers today, Aiyar, a former Panchayati Raj minister, said that one of the reasons behind the party's Lok Sabha poll debacle was its failure to empower local bodies.

"Fourteen lakh women have been elected. I can see only 14 of them. You have to include all 14 lakh," he said even as he accused Modi of making "false promises" in his August 15 address to the nation.

Aiyar said that if there were 20 reasons for Congress's rout in the general elections, one of them was definitely the failure of the UPA government in implementing Panchayati Raj policies.

"The system in many Congress-ruled states was really bad. If we carry out economic reforms but refrain from administrative reforms, then this will happen.

"It happened with UPA and with the (previous) NDA government," Aiyar said as he sought greater financial and administrative powers for local bodies.

PTI