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Congress leader Harish Rawat on Wednesday came out in defense of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, following comments made by Mani Shankar Aiyar. Rawat refused to comment on Aiyar's remarks, dismissing him as a "frustrated individual."
Instead, Rawat chose to remember Rajiv Gandhi's legacy, highlighting his contributions to modernizing the country and liberalizing the economy. Gandhi's vision, Rawat believes, would have altered the course of India's history if a section of the Congress party had supported him. "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. His speeches as LoP still guide leaders," said Rawat. This comes after BJP leader Amit Malviya shared a video on his official 'X' handle featuring former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar questioning former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's education. Aiyar said that despite failing at Cambridge, where passing is considered relatively easy, he went on to attend Imperial College London, only to face failure again. "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. "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 really 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 Imperial College of London, then he failed there again. Then I thought, How can such a person become the Prime Minister," Aiyar added. It's worth noting that Rajiv Gandhi's academic struggles didn't hold him back from pursuing a career in politics. He became the Prime Minister of India in 1984, following the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. Meanwhile, another Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP, Kunwar Danish Ali also praised Rajiv Gandhi for bringing the Information Technology (IT) revolution in the country. "Rajiv Gandhi is remembered for bringing an IT revolution and modernisation in the country. He had also initiated the Panchayati Raj system," Danish Ali told ANI. Congress leader Rashid Alvi also hit out at BJP leader Amit Malviya and alleged that he "has a habit of editing things." "(Amit) Malviya has a habit of editing things. How much of it is right and how much is wrong, only Mani Shankar can tell. But the question is not whether Rajiv Gandhi passed or failed. How was Rajiv Gandhi as a Prime Minister? What kind of work did Rajiv Gandhi do after becoming the Prime Minister? If you want to analyse Rajiv Gandhi, then you have to analyse his work," Alvi said. He further hit out at the BJP for not even showing the academic qualifications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding, "BJP people are not even ready to show the PM's degree. PM himself says that he used to sell tea and have passed matriculation, but we do not see him because of his education. We see him because of his work as a PM." (ANI)
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