Congress distances itself from Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘Pakistan love’ remark

The Congress party on Wednesday distanced itself from the remark made by Mani Shankar Aiyar that he receives "much more hatred in India than the love he receives in Pakistan."

"The remark is his own, he is suspended from the Congress party. He doesn't have any right to speak on the behalf of the party," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told news agency ANI.

Firing a fresh salvo amid tension between India and Pakistan over recent attacks on Army and CRPF camps in Jammu and Kashmir, the veteran Congress leader has said that India is still caught in a "partially 1947 situation" while there is "change of mindset" in the neighbouring country.

Aiyar on Tuesday said he receives "much more hatred in India" than the love showered on him by people in Pakistan. He also claimed that people applaud him in Pakistan because he talks of peace.

"Thousands of people, whom I don't know, hug me, wish me. I receive much more hatred in India than the love I receive in Pakistan. So I am happy to be here. They are clapping for me because I speak of peace," Aiyar told ANI.

This wasn't the first time that Mani Shankar Aiyar has said something condemnable and left his party red-faced.
Recently, Mani Shankar Aiyar's 'neech' remark for Prime Minister Narendra Modi spelled trouble for the Congress party during the Gujarat Assembly elections.

In 2015, he had sparked a huge controversy after he requested the Pakistanis to remove the Narendra Modi government and bring the Congress back to power if they wanted talks to continue during a panel discussion in Pakistan.

OneIndia News