M A I N   N E W S

Jibe at Jaitley: Aiyar may have to apologise
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, May 4
Hapless floor managers of the UPA are planning to ask Congress president Sonia Gandhi to talk to irrepressible Rajya Sabha member Mani Shankar Aiyar whose refusal to apologise to the Opposition has derailed the debate on the Home Ministry and is threatening to disrupt proceedings tomorrow.

Making his maiden speech in the Upper House yesterday, Aiyar had landed himself smack in the midst of a raging row when he described leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley as a “full Fascist” and alleged the BJP leader had covered up a criminal act in the Gujarat riots.

Aiyar has, over the years, acquired reputation for stirring trouble each time he spoke and he did not disappoint yesterday.

An angry Opposition stalled proceedings and insisted that Aiyar should apologise. The House was adjourned without Home Minister P Chidambaram being allowed to reply to the debate.

It was being hoped that this issue would be forgotten today once tempers had cooled but this was not to be. The Opposition did not allow resumption of the inconclusive debate this evening and pressed ahead with its demand for Aiyar’s apology although the presiding officer subsequently expunged his remarks. Aiyar sat unmoved through the din.

UPA floor managers attempted to persuade Aiyar to retract his statement but to little avail. Several senior Congress leaders also tried to reason with him but were brushed off by Aiyar. With both stood sides refusing to budge, the Rajya Sabha is all set to witness another round of disruptions when it reconvenes tomorrow.

Faced with an unfinished agenda in the Upper House, Congress parliamentary leaders believe they are left with little choice but to ask the Congress president to intervene in the matter.

This is not the first time that Aiyar has created a stir in the Parliament. The outspoken MP, who has had an earlier stint in the Lok Sabha, has a penchant for courting controversy but is unapologetic about it.

He once proudly proclaimed that there had not been a single speech of his that had not been interrupted or some sentences expunged from it. It is not just the Opposition that is targeted by him. Aiyar is equally unsparing with his own colleagues and even the Congress president. He had embarrassed everybody in the Cabinet during UPA I when he lambasted the government for hosting the Commonwealth Games which, according to him, was a sheer waste of money.

There is another incident when Aiyar did not hesitate to air his views on Sonia Gandhi’s leadership at a social gathering. He would have continued undeterred had he not been interrupted by a voice from the next room, “Mani, I am here.”