Published Feb 16, 2026 | 6:54 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 16, 2026 | 6:54 PM
Mani Shankar Aiyar with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Synopsis: Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has doubled down on his praise for the ruling LDF in Kerala, leaving the Congress on the defensive and embarrassed. As party leaders sought to distance themselves from him, Aiyar said he remains part of the party and that the Congress is unlikely to win because its leaders “hate each other more than the Communists”. He also criticised several Kerala leaders by name and said VD Satheesan should be named the chief ministerial candidate.
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has embarrassed the party in Kerala, doubling down on earlier remarks that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would return for a third term in the Assembly elections due in a few months, and that the Congress is unlikely to win because its leaders “hate each other more than the Communists”.
Speaking at the Vision 2031: Development and Democracy conclave organised by the ruling Left Democratic Alliance on Sunday, 15 February, Aiyar, a former diplomat and Union minister, was effusive in his praise of Left rule.
“In the presence of the Chief Minister, who I am confident will continue in office, I renew my plea: to reinforce Kerala as the best Panchayati Raj state in the country, state law should be amended based on practical experience,” he said.
“I request you to pick up the baton that the Congress has dropped. Thank you, and may Kerala prosper.”
For the Congress, which hopes to return to power in Kerala after a decade of Left rule, the remarks were embarrassing. State leaders and AICC spokesperson Pawan Khera moved quickly to distance Aiyar from the party.
“Mani Shankar Aiyar has had no connection whatsoever with the Congress for the past few years. He speaks and writes purely in his personal capacity,” he wrote in a post on X.
Congress Working Committee member and former Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala, speaking to the media on Monday, said Aiyar’s views did not reflect the Congress line in Kerala.
The Vision 2031 conclave, which began on Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram, is set to showcase the ruling LDF’s record in governance, highlight social and economic gains, and frame new policies. It features around 150 speakers, including Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen and historian Romila Thapar.
“It is ironic that the only state in India in which progress has been made in Gandhiji’s direction is the one ruled by the Marxist-Leninist party of India. I don’t know whether this is a compliment or an insult,” Aiyar said on Sunday, 15 February.
He urged the state government to strengthen panchayati raj institutions, saying decentralisation has lost champions elsewhere in the country.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan welcomed Aiyar’s praise and called his words “charismatic”.
Before the event, Ramesh Chennithala wrote to Sen, Thapar and others urging them to reconsider their participation, calling the conclave a state-sponsored programme with political overtones. Sen was present at the conclave and was equally praiseful.
“I must acknowledge a weakening of my confidence in the invulnerability of secularism in India. The future of secularism will depend on whether we can resist the well-organised thrusting of smallness on this country,” he said.
Several Congress leaders in Kerala told South First that Aiyar’s remarks did not match the political mood in the state and clashed with the party’s campaign line.
A Kerala Congress leader, speaking privately, said Aiyar’s comments put the party in an awkward position at a crucial juncture. An AICC source added that since his suspension in 2018, Aiyar has had no close association with the party.
At the same time, AICC General Secretary and MP Jairam Ramesh said there was no doubt that the party would return to power in Kerala.
“Let there be no doubt. The people of Kerala will bring the UDF back for more responsible and responsive governance. They also know LDF and BJP are covert partners,” Jairam Ramesh wrote in a post on X.
In response to the pushback from the Congress, Aiyar told the press in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday that a small part of his speech had been exaggerated and blown out of proportion.
“It was only half a line in that speech which has been blown out of proportion,” he said, insisting that the larger thrust of his address was decentralisation and development.
He said he spoke after listening to presentations on Kerala’s achievements and had merely expressed appreciation for the work of the LDF government.
Aiyar also hit back at Congress leaders who distanced themselves from him. Referring to a biography of BR Ambedkar titled A Part Apart, he said he was “a part but apart” from the present leadership.
“I am a Gandhian, I am a Nehruvian, I am a Rajivian, but I am not a Rahulian,” he said, adding that only the Congress president could expel him from the party.
He then targeted party leaders by name. He said he had “absolutely no respect and complete contempt” for Pawan Khera and accused him of acting as a “parrot” for others in the leadership.
Aiyar called KC Venugopal a “goonda” and Shashi Tharoor a “chameleon” and “anti-Pakistan”, with ambitions to become the “next foreign minister”.
He described VD Satheesan as a socialist and secular leader, and said that if Satheesan is not made the Congress’s chief ministerial candidate, Pinarayi Vijayan will return to power. He also criticised Ramesh Chennithala, asking: “Is he the PR of Congress?”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
